Ultimate Ranma
by Dreamingfox
Summary: The ultimate test of martial arts prowress vs super-human strength - Ranma vs The Incredible Hulk. Ranma x Ultimate Marvel
1. Chapter 1

Author's Notes –

I've gotten tired of waiting for a good Ranma / X-Men/Marvel crossover, so I've decided to do something about it. While it's using the idea behind the March on Ultimatum, I won't be limiting myself to the cannon of that world.

No, I do not own Marvel or Ranma. I'm just a lowly Fanfiction writer.

* * * * *

The early evening breeze felt refreshing to the young man as he lay on the warm roof. Though the hard clay shingles poked into his toned muscles in his back the youth had slept on worse and less forgiving terrain.

Ever since the fiasco that was the failed wedding, things around the Tendo compound were, well, strange, especially for Ranma. He just couldn't look at Akane the same way and she apparently couldn't look at him either. It was like that time after Akane had gone off to the woods filled with huge animals, only different. He just couldn't put it into words, but he knew that it was different, more intense than that time.

Lost in thought as the young martial artist tried to put his feelings into words, Ranma suddenly felt a slight rumbling.

_Great, I wonder if Ryoga's managed to find his way back here_.

The rumbling soon subsided, easing the martial artist's mind.

_Guess he got lost again. _

The sound of hundreds of cats yowling and dogs barking filled the night sky even as the household animals fled the safety of their master's homes or the dark alleys that they populated.

Sitting up, Ranma watched as the neighbor's dog, the same one he'd once mistook for Ryoga, dashed across the Tendo's yard, barking as though there were no tomorrow. In a flash Ranma was off the roof, snatching the dog up before it could run into the open veranda and ruin the carefully cooked meal that Kasumi had prepared.

"Thank you Ranma," the ever pleasant older girl said with her trademark smile.

Despite his strength and skill, the pigtailed martial artist fought to maintain a solid hold of the uncharacteristically energetic dog.

In all his highly destructive fights the young martial artist had become accustomed to the sounds of destruction be it a few sudden pot holes being made in the road or the sound of boulders being sundered. Yet in all his fights nothing sounded as terrible as the sounds that filled his ears as an unimaginable wave of destruction swept through Tokyo.

Tsunami. That was what the rumbling was, an earthquake, and there must have been a powerful tsunami as a result. But with Nerima in the northwestern district of Tokyo they were a long ways off from the ocean. But just in case… Grabbing hold of Kasumi he ignored her indignant cry of protest as he leapt onto the roof.

"Ranma!" the eldest Tendo daughter cried out.

"I think there's been an earthquake out at sea and a tsunami hitting Tokyo," he explained as he set her down. "I'm going to go check it out."

"Tsunami? But we're so far from the ocean," the polite older girl replied.

"Just in case," he said as he turned to go, "get everyone up here. As a martial artist I should go help out."

Before she could even suggest that he take the true masters of the Anything Goes Martial Arts style, Ranma was off. After clearing several blocks a sea of darkness greeted the young man. Only his keen eyes allowed him to pick out the flicker of motion as hundreds of bewildered people stood in their windows or door ways, some out in the street as their pets tried to warn them or flee the impending wave of doom.

"Get to high ground!" he shouted as he roof-hopped towards Tokyo Bay. "It's a tsunami!"

Though he was one voice, his cry of warning was soon repeated. He could hear several cries of "Tsunami!" and "Earthquake!" over the howling dogs. Soon, even he was hard pressed to keep up with the wave of warnings that progressed ahead of him.

Several spots of light filled the darkness as residents grabbed lanterns, flashlights, or candles to illuminate their way as they fled for higher ground.

Lost in the sound of people fleeing, cars honking, and animals howling and screeching was the sound of the receding water of the first wave.

After several kilometers the sound of people wading through water and the sight of people standing on top of their cars, walls, or homes greeted Ranma. Though he was definitely out of Nerima Ranma wasn't sure exactly where he was (he never really bothered with any wards other then Nerima).

_Wow, the water got this far_, he thought as he leapt up onto a telephone pole. With all the people avoiding the water and on their roofs and other high ground Ranma was forced to deviate from his usual pattern of taking the most direct route. Focusing on his path he refused to consider how bad things were if the water had come this far from the ocean.

Pushing himself to make up the lost time from the slight detours, Ranma rushed ahead.

Had he been able to actually see the water level he would have noticed that it was much lower than when he'd first encountered the stranded residents as they huddled together on the rooftops of their homes or automobiles.

"Help!" someone shouted.

Instinctively Ranma turned, seeking to help those in need. The sound of breaking glass and several shouts from unruly punks and thugs told him all he needed to know. Leaping down to the street level Ranma eyed the thugs as they began to loot the small mom and pop convenience store.

"Put it down!" he shouted even as he charged towards the thugs.

"Make me!" the closest and tallest of the thugs shouted.

Rushing past the tall, tattooed punk Ranma doubled him over with a swift punch to the stomach before dropping another thug with a quick leg sweep. A round house kick sent another punk crashing into a pair of thugs.

Opening his mouth for a sharp and witty comment, Ranma paused as he heard the rushing water of a second wave. Before he could do anything he was now a she as the cold, salty ocean waters swept away everyone and everything in the street.

She wasn't sure why or how, but the now busty redhead had managed to grab hold of something. Only her powerful muscles and grip allowed her to maintain her hold despite the nearly overwhelming power of ocean bearing down on her.

She didn't know how long she'd stayed under, only that her lungs ached and that she needed air. Suddenly she laying on top of the train tracks as the water receded. Wiping the water from her eyes she forced fresh air into her aching lungs.

Darkness and silence greeted her as she forced herself onto one knee. No cries for help, no lights lit the darkness, no splashing from any one who managed to swim to the surface – nothing.

Ranma was all alone.

* * * * *

"The boy is ready," the masked figure stated. "Without the elders around to protect him he'll be ours."

"He is emotionally fragile," another masked figure stated.

"Which makes now the perfect time to claim him," a third figure said, countering the second figure's assessment. "He's already bested the Phoenix King, imagine what he can do for us. If he is emotionally broken we can use that to our advantage and recreate him for our needs."

"Yes, he is ready," a forth figure conceded. "He is physically and emotionally drained – now is the best time to bring him in. Have the psychics and telepaths ready."

"Once he's captured we'll let them reprogram him," the second figure nodded.

"No, with someone like him wiping him clean will probably make him less useful. We'll have the telepaths alter his psyche and personality instead. That way he actually believes in what he's doing," the forth figure explained. "Even as emotionally fragile as he is, he is more than a threat to any of our agents. Activate Konatsu, the boy should prove to be useful in turning Ranma to our purposes."

* * * * *

Nerima was a mess. Having been the indirect cause of much of the chaos and resulting damage, Ranma was used to seeing the neighborhood in ruins, but this… this was much worse than anything that even the worst battle royal had done. Telephone poles, trees, even the small police box were turned over and lying in the streets. Motorcycles, cars, and truck were slammed into the sides of buildings, some like the one that had been Ukyo's restaurant, were gone altogether. Fences that were meant to keep the wandering martial artists from venturing into someone's yard weren't just destroyed, they were leveled worse than anything a martial artist traveling at high speeds could do.

But worst of all were the bloated bodies. Of all those hundreds, possibly thousands of people Ranma had seen while she had rushed to Tokyo proper from Nerima, none seemed to have survived. Countless bodies lay in the streets, some in small pools, while others under the various debris or remains of buildings, cars, trees, or whatever. They were everywhere. There wasn't anywhere she could look that she wouldn't see a dead body.

Regardless of how far or fast she ran she couldn't escape the destruction and death around him. Gone was Furinkan, though technically it was only partially gone as the west wing of the building still remained standing, though just barely. The Neko Café was still there, though not for long if the fire that raged around it was any indication of who was left to save/tend the restaurant.

Though she did not want to, Ranma knew that she needed to examine the multitude of corpses that littered the streets of Nerima and try to give the dead some measure of peace and respect. It was almost a cursed blessing that he didn't recognize anyone at first, just the nameless neighbors or faceless residents that he knew lived around the ward but didn't know well enough to actually remember their names or faces. It gave him some hope that someone that he knew had survived.

The first face she recognized as the old lady that used to always splash her (and the other water cursed martial artists), triggering her change from boy to girl. Gently she lifted the old lady out of the knee deep pool that she'd found her in and carried her to the open street and set her beside the long line of dead.

After clearing then filling full city blocks of the dead Ranma found another recognizable face – Miss Hinako. The tiny girl was really an adult, just trapped in a child's body. For some unfortunate reason she'd never learned to swim either. Was this the fate that Akane shared as one of the few people who couldn't skate?

Countless bodies lined the street (and several sharks, jellyfish, octopi and squid, and other unrecognizable fish as well) before he found another unfortunate victim that he knew - this one belonged to one of the girls on the Rhythmic Gymnastics team that Kodachi had belonged to. Soon he found the rest of the squad and their fearless (and insane) leader as well.

She didn't know why, but Ranma felt the need to throw up. Even though she hadn't eaten anything recently, the pigtailed girl emptied her stomach, the taste of the acidic bile filling her mouth as she supported herself against the wall.

The crows and seagulls made the work all the harder as they began to pick at the bodies that he'd laid out, others made the bodies unrecognizable as they gouged out eyes and picked at any exposed flesh.

Punching into a change machine, Ranma grabbed a handful of coins and threw them with deadly accuracy at the scavengers, killing more than a few and forcing the rest to take to the air. Even with the abundant food the birds quickly learned to not feast on the bodies anywhere near to where the lone survivor was.

By the time the sun set, nearly a full day after the catastrophe, Ranma had found all of the Tendo family. Nabiki had been found with Tatewaki Kuno in the business district, Akane had been found near the city park, Kasumi and Soun Tendo had been found near a bar, not too far from the giant panda and the remains of his mother. He'd found a familiar purple cat and a duck with a broken neck as well.

"Ranma!" a slightly hoarse voice called out.

Though it was slightly high pitched, the pigtailed martial artist knew who it belonged too.

"Konatsu!" he shouted in reply as she ran towards the first survivor he'd seen since the disaster. "Where's …?"

Seeing the cross-dressing ninja look away was all the answer he needed. Dropping to her knees, the exhausted martial artist felt a slight prick on her shoulder as the ninja put his hand there. Blinking, the redhead's vision slowly blurred.

"You must be tired," Konatsu stated.

Slowly, the world went black.

* * * * *

"You were right, he is mentally fragile," the masked figure stated. "If we'd had tried to wipe him clean we would have hit a set back."

"Yes, his duel personality would have been an issue," another masked figure conceded.

"Who'd have thought that his other personality thinks it's a cat?" another figure said, shaking her head.

"We'll need to make sure that he, or she, doesn't change into the cat," another female figure added. "Though I doubt that the cat persona has any intelligence, it could undo all our work."

"What if you set the cat persona to protect his psyche from other psychics and telepaths?" the first masked figure asked.

Both female telepaths looked at each other.

"That might work," the second female conceded.

"We'll get right on it," the first female added.

Both females vanished into the shadows, leaving the two men to themselves.

"We'll need to test his prowess and ability," the first masked figure stated.

The second man nodded. "I have the perfect target in mind."

* * * * *

Surveying the ruined city below him Ranma looked at the giant massive graveyard that he and Konatsu had managed to create in what was once a park. Though the mighty trees were stripped of their leaves, and some of their branches, Ranma was sure that they would one day provide shade to those how came here to visit their dead. With the help of the hundred or so survivors the two boys had managed to identify all the bodies using the IDs on the bodies or by having them identified by one of the few survivors that knew the victim in life. The makeshift grave had attracted the attention of the army, prompting them to send remnants of the JSDF to help them identify the millions who had died.

With the troops and rescuers came radio and in some cases television.

"It has been reported that the mutant known as Magneto, the self proclaimed master of magnetism, caused worldwide catastrophe as he changed the magnetic fields of the earth," the reporter's voice declared, drawing everyone within hearing distance to it. "Coastal cities through out the world experienced similar situations as Japan, though those facing the oceans rather than seas were hit hardest."

Ranma visibly shook. Mutant – this was caused by a mutant! He didn't even know who we were and yet he killed everyone!

Konatsu simply watched as Ranma shook with rage. Yes, things looked to be going as planned.

* * * * *

The ruined city of Seattle was slowly rebuilding. Not only had it been pounded by a tsunami, but Mount St. Helen had erupted recently as the shifts in the magnetic field had thrown off the Teutonic plates beneath the supposedly dormant volcano. The hundreds of survivors and troops had quickly evacuated the area.

But not everyone had left.

A towering building slowly crumbled as a giant figure went crashing through one of the exterior walls. Heavily damaged in the tsunami, the building could not bare its burden any more and slowly gave in, falling into a giant pool of salty water even as the giant figure shook himself off.

"Who the hell are you?" the mammoth figure shouted. Though his blackened metal helmet was scuffed and dented, the muscular bare arms appeared unscathed despite the fact that the man had run through four feet of concrete. Said muscular arms came smashing down, sundering the remains of a toppled building even as the man's target leapt over him, a considerable feat given the size of the man.

Several well placed kicks to the back of the head sent him falling down onto the crushed concrete wall while also propelling his assailant further away from him.

"You were once part of Magneto's Brotherhood," the much smaller figure shouted as it sprang off of the collapsing building and shot back towards the fallen man.

"You're a mutant hunter than," the big man stated as he pushed himself onto his hands and knees, only to be driven back down into the ground as the smaller man landed on the back of his head. Instinctively he lashed out, barely missing the elusive figure that had hounded and harassed him relentlessly for the past day.

Pushing off of the fallen figure Ranma once again was air born. Though he couldn't harm his opponent with his punches, Ranma knew he had other tricks up his sleeve. Even though the techniques were officially sealed, the pigtailed boy decided to use them anyways. Besides, this was a life or death situation.

The old Ranma wouldn't have used the sealed techniques, nor would he have purposely picked a fight like this, but that Ranma was dead, just as dead as the rest of the Nerima Wrecking Crew. This vengeful and vindictive Ranma unleashed several vacuum blades at the still downed mutant, cutting through the hardened helmet and into the man's back even as it crushed the man down into the dirt.

Landing hard but purposefully on his opponent's back, Ranma reached down and yanked off the helmet. It was useful, but the man was expendable.

"I ain't been with the Brotherhood in a long time," the large man shouted as he pushed himself off the ground and forced Ranma off of his back. Standing tall the gigantic man looked down at his puny opponent.

"It's been a long time since anyone's managed to hurt me kid," the mighty figure stated. "I'm going to have fun crushing you.

"So, you seem to heal rather quickly," Ranma shrugged, pulling out an ancient katana.

"That little pig-sticker ain't gonna…"

Before Cain Marko could even finish Ranma had struck, not giving his opponent the time to finish his dialogue.

"A magic blade to cancel out your magical enhancements, and my skill beats out your mutant power," Ranma said, wiping the blade clean even as his opponent's head was sent flying as the powerful, still beating heart filled the air with crimson blood and sent the severed head flying. "And now you're dead."

* * * * *

Four Months Later –

The cool autumn winds of New York blew much harsher than they did in Tokyo. Then again, maybe it was the fact that the world was still trying to readjust to the changes that had happened as a result of one mad, and extremely powerful mutant had wrecked on the entire world. Untold millions had been assumed dead, their bodies never recovered from the ruins of the destroyed cities or the oceans as tsunamis had rocked virtually every coastal city, New York included. But unlike Tokyo, New York had many superheroes to help rebuild. Japan would never be the same, and the handful of survivors definitely wouldn't be.

Not long after the resolution of the attack by Magneto, a group of mutants known as the X-men, at the time lead by one Scott Summers, had announced that all mutants in the United States were now registered by their government. As Japan had few mutants, Ranma had little do to there.

But in New York, well, mutants were much more abundant.

"This is your target," the cross-dressing ninja known as Konatsu stated. "She openly attends this high school. You will be officially transferred to the school on Monday."

The pigtailed assassin nodded. It was her plan, but having Konatsu his plan back to him was nice as it helped stroke his ego. His plans never went wrong, and having the cross-dressing ninja acknowledge it always helped.

Ever since the destruction of Tokyo and the death of virtually everyone that he'd held dear to him, Ranma had changed. The announcement that a mutant had caused the destruction had triggered that change. As a martial artist it was his duty to protect the weak; to protect them from mutants by any means necessary.

"Why don't I just kill her in school?" Ranma asked as he skimmed over the dossier once more. "Ah, her ability to phase – she is virtually untouchable when she doesn't want to be."

"She's but a bit player," the ninja added, playing his part expertly and re-enforcing Ranma's plan. If he were to second guess Ranma's plans than Ranma would simply stick to his original plan even more stubbornly, but if Ranma truly had doubts than the pigtailed martial artist would end up asking him if he should alter his plans. "Use her to get to the other mutants."

Ranma nodded. She was connected to the now infamous X-men, and through them he could get to the remnants of Magneto's followers. Yes, that would be worth faking a friendship with the cursed mutant.

"I know I don't have to say this, but the others want you to watch yourself. New York isn't like Tokyo or Quebec, there are a lot of superheroes here, and even though she's a mutant she's connected to some of them," Konatsu cautioned.

Again Ranma nodded. As the only other survivor from the Nerima Wrecking Crew, though admittedly, Konatsu hadn't wrecked as much havoc as most of the NWC, he was the last link that Ranma had to the old days. If not for the ninja's assistance Ranma probably wouldn't have made it, not with the loss of, well, everyone. Konatsu had helped give him purpose – to avenge those he'd lost and to protect humanity from the threat of mutants.

* * * * *

Watching his former foe and rival for Ukyo's affection, Konatsu wondered if Ranma truly belonged with the Hand. The once vibrant and energetic martial artist had never been one to take a life so willingly and easily – the one life he had taken had been as a last resort and only after a long, drawn out battle. But following the destruction of Tokyo Ranma had killed six powerful mutants without batting an eye. After two months of 'reprogramming', little of which the emotionally broken boy had fought, the former leader of the Nerima Wrecking crew had become a terribly efficient killer.

And it was all thanks to the secret workings of squad seventy seven. The psychics and telepaths had focused Ranma's anger and rage on mutants while also hiding the fact that they themselves were mutants. As such Ranma had become a perfect sleeper agent in that he willingly did everything, all he had to do as his handler was provide him with the profile of a mutant and Ranma willingly undertook the mission. Ranma didn't even question where the ninja had obtained the information as his slight reprogramming not only made him trust Konatsu implicitly but made him overlook such minor details.

* * * * *

Chaos - that was the best way to describe the classroom. Not the destroying city streets and shutting down businesses chaos of Nerima, but it was chaos none the less. It made Ranma almost feel like he was at home, which only made him hate New York all the more. His home was destroyed, washed away by the giant tsunami which had been the result of one of Them using their powers. One of Them which was just like her – Kitty Pride.

Choking down the urge to just brush past everyone and beat the girl to death, Ranma played the role of the polite, new foreign student. With Japan in shambles many of the survivors who weren't involved in the clean-up or conscripted into the armed forces had fled Japan, seeking to find some measure of comfort by either creating a new life or by fleeing the haunting memories of their old homes. As a small (land-mass wise) island nation Japan had suffered the most, though the Philippines and New Zealand had also suffered tremendous losses as well.

"This is Ranma Saotome," the teacher shouted, though her voice was drowned out by the overly energetic classroom of teens.

Bowing politely, the pigtailed teen knew better than to expect his classmates to question him about his likes and dislikes, hobbies and musical preference – this wasn't Japan and Americans were definitely not the polite people that the Japanese were. This was a nation full of individuals who took pride in their individuality, not a society where those who stood out were pounded back down. Only in Nerima where there were world class, destructive martial artists, did Ranma not stick out. But here, here he was just another face in the crowd.

"Um, why don't you sit in back, the third seat in," the obviously overwhelmed teacher suggested.

Nodding, Ranma took his seat next to the mutant. _Soul of Ice, Soul of Ice_. Concentrating, he forced himself to relax, smiling politely and even slightly warmly at the admittedly cute girl when she dared to look at her new neighbor. Sitting beside her, he discretely followed her eyes to the young, fairly runty (by American standards at least) youth several rows over.

He continued to watch her, and those around her, throughout the day.

Even though she was capable of making herself intangible the brunette allowed many objects to hit her, though several figures moved to her defense, the most notable being the large, bald boy named Kong. Apparently he'd had a thing for the mute. The teasing and taunting got worse, and the objects larger.

_It is a martial artist's duty to protect the weak_, Ranma thought as he watched the assault against the girl as she refused to defend herself. Standing up he calmly walked over and batted down the large text book that one of the other students had thrown at her. Between himself and the bigger student the pair was able to keep Kitty from enduring too much abuse. Despite his own urge to kill the girl, Ranma knew that he'd have to play his part well and that defending her was simply something he'd have to do for now if he were to gain her trust.

The only thing that stood out was when the girl had 'phased' her hand through a redhead's digital video recorder, somehow disrupting the electronic device. That was something that he hadn't expected, though fortunately for him he didn't rely on electronic devices. Still, it was something noteworthy to consider if he had to go down that road.

* * * * *

"Hey Gook!" someone shouted.

Ranma had been expecting some sort of retaliation. Obviously with school out the students who had unleashed a barrage of garbage at the mutant girl were trying to come after him. They'd clearly live to regret it.

"I'm talking to you – you stupid Jap!" the athletic redhead shouted as he and his gang of followers stood around Ranma.

"That girl you were defending at lunch is a mutant, she's a freak," one of the other boys shouted as he moved close and tried to intimidate Ranma. "So either you're a mutant-lover or you're a freak!"

The lead boy tried to grab Ranma's favorite red, silk shirt; tried being the operative word as Ranma stepped out of his way and quickly tripped the loudmouthed youth.

Having faced off against Furinkan High's hentai horde when they chased after Akane, Ranma knew more than he should about dealing with overwhelming numbers – especially against those who weren't even close to his level. These thug/punks should have been honored to even be mentioned in the same breath or sentence as the hentai horde. As it was, none of these 'athletes' could hold a candle to the youths at his old high school.

Despite being athletes the punks around him lacked any coordination and balance. Rather than waiting for an opening they looked at each other and waited for one or two of them to move in and try to grab the smaller Japanese boy. Quick as Ranma was, he knew that the punks would never be able to catch him. Using his just a fraction of his unenhanced speed, Ranma danced around the 'football' team, tripping them up and sending them sprawling until finally all of them were either exhausted or completely humbled. Considering that they were simpleminded brutes exhaustion came first as the large crowd that had gathered around all of them was clearly in favor of the thugs beating up one of the mutant's supporters.

After nearly twenty minutes of dancing around the now lethargic punks Ranma eyed the very vocal supporters of exhausted punks.

"He's out of your league guys," a new voice called out, silencing the murmurs and speculative whispers. "Gook's not a mute, not with moves like that. I'd guess he's probably at least a black belt, maybe even a two dan."

Ranma eyed the newest antagonist, a long haired boy with some practiced grace in his steps. Clearly the guy had some martial arts training and wasn't just spouting off random knowledge.

"Now, let's see who's kung fu is better," the boy said with a predatory smile.

A three step run and quick front kick into a flying axe kick was all the boy managed to get off as Ranma sidestepped the attack. Grabbing hold of his shirt Ranma suddenly changed the flashy martial artist's direction, sending him back where he came from though much less graceful an exit than entrance.

"Man, you're not even close to being in my league," the pigtailed martial artist stated as he stepped over the now dazed attacker.

Slowly the assembled youths around him parted, giving him enough room to freely leave the circle that had closed in around him.

* * * * *

A/N

Some back story from Ultimate Spider-man to help set the stage –

Mary Jane Watson used to be Peter Parker's best friend (after Harry Osborn) and was the first to discover Peter's alter-ego, a.k.a. Spider-man. They dated, then things got messy, and Mary Jane dumped him. Peter starts dating Gwen Stacy as a result.

Some kid in school develops the awesome power to blow things up with his mind, only he doesn't do it responsibly or nicely and he and Spidy have a tiff. The X-men get involved, and Spidy gets knocked out and loses his mask. Working under the impression that they now know who he is, he spouts out his name, telling them just who he is now. Anyways, the kid at school happens to have been experimented on while still a fetus and lived in Dr. Doom's country before transferring to America.

Significant in that Spider-man meets the X-men, and starts thinking of Jean Grey and all the x-hotties naked, and Jean being a telepath knows just what he's seeing when he looks at them. He also meets Kitty Pride, the youngest of the X-men.

Being a super-powered teenager, Peter doesn't have many people who can understand him, thus the reason why he starts dating Kitty Pride, a.k.a. Shadowcat. He also makes friends with Johnny Storm, a.k.a. the Human Torch of Fantastic Four fame. This is significant because while hanging out one night with Kitty, Bobby Drake (the Iceman), Johnny, and some others, one of his female friends, Liz, starts on fire. At first he thinks it's because of Johnny, but nope, she's a mutant. She's actually the daughter of the Blob and a human who hooked up with him when he was in the circus. She becomes the heroine Firestar.

Soon after Kitty starts moonlighting as a new superheroine/sidekick to Spider-man and they start dating. Then she gets busted by Xavier and sent home to live with her mother, and goes to school with Peter and Mary Jane.

Now, back to Gwen Stacy. Her father's a cop and he ends up dying so Peter's aunt, Aunt May, takes her in. She dies because of the bio-suit known as Venom is looking for Peter and kills her instead as she is living at the Parker residence.

Once Peter is over her death he starts dating Kitty as he wants someone who can defend herself against the stuff he gets messed up in. Little does he know that Gwen is cloned and will eventually come back as Carnage. Once free of Carnage she starts living with the Parkers again.

Learning of the clones (and the fact that there are three clones of him, one of which is a girl) after going to Reed Richards (Johnny Storm's brother-in-law), Peter signs makes peace with Fury in exchange for getting a shot at Dr. Octavious (who cloned Spider-man). Only Spider-man (the original) and Jessica Drew (the female Spider-man) survive the encounter. As a result of this, Aunt May discovers Peter's secret, prompting Kitty to insist to Jean Grey that she wipe the memories of Aunt May because that's what Peter wants. In truth he doesn't, and that causes a divide between them. Oh, and there's also the fact that Deadpool kidnapped the X-men and Spider-man and it is revealed that Kitty and Spidy are dating on live TV. But they break up because Kitty doesn't understand Peter.

Then one morning he wakes up as Logan/Wolverine. This is because Jean Grey had enough of Logan hitting on her and banished his mind into the last person/place that he wanted to be – inside Peter Parker. Chaos ensues and Peter is finally returned to his original body/mind but he's now bitter against telepaths.

Then there's the March on Ultimatum where Magneto nearly destroys the world and almost succeeds.

Johnny Storm nearly dies and does go to hell, only to be captured by a demon who Spider-man and the Hulk fight after it kills Dr. Strange. Chaos ensues and Spidy is assumed to have been killed in action. Sue Storm shows up with the Thing and they free Johnny from the demon.

J. J. Jameson, the editor and owner of the Daily Bugle, who's had huge grudge against Spider-man, sees firsthand the heroics of Spider-man during the tsunami that destroys New York. He vows to use his paper to clear Spider-man's name. Unfortunately everyone thinks that Spider-man is dead and the piece becomes a eulogy. It works, he turns the public in favor of Spider-man.

While cleaning up New York, Tony Stark, a.k.a. Ironman, and Captain America find a barely alive and unmasked Spider-man (they already know who he is after working with him to take down Norman Osborn and other genetically altered villains, and through Nick Fury) and revive him.

During the March on Ultimatum virtually all the X-men are killed. Wolverine, Cyclops, Angel, Beast, Nightcrawler, Storm, etc. Only Kitty, Bobby, Rogue, and Rachel Summers (daughter of Cyclops and Marvel Girl, a.k.a. Jean Grey) are survive. Mutants are now registered with the government and the X-men are disbanded.

So, the tally of the notable dead are – Thor, Giantman, the Wasp, Wolverine, Cyclops, Angel, Beast, Nightcrawler, Storm, Cannonball, Cypher, Daredevil, Dazzler, Dr. Doom, Dr. Strange, Emma Frost, Blob, Captain Britain, Forge, Franklin Storm, Longshot, Lorelei, Madrox, Magneto, Professor Xavier, Polaris, Psylocke, Sunspot, Syndicate, and Toad. Firestar, Havok, Nightmare, and Valkryie (Thor's wife and the object of Captain America's affections) are all MIA. If you stick to Ultimate cannon, Juggernaut dies after being shot in the eye with a poison dart – he gets better treatment and more respect in this fic.

The Fantastic Four has disbanded, with the Thing now working for Shield, Sue Storm running her father's research (he died), Johnny who is angry at himself for how he talked to his father is now living with Peter Parker, and Reed Richards is finding where he belongs.

The X-men are disbanded with only Jean Grey and Storm as responsible adults, Bobby Drake is at home, as is Kitty Pride, and Rogue still with Jean and Storm.

The Avengers are rebuilding as Valkryie is injured, and only Captain America, Hawkeye, and Ironman are active.

As for Ranma and the Nerima Wrecking Crew, only Ranma and Konatsu survived, though Ryoga, Taro, Happosai, and Ryu are MIA.

Tweaking Ranma's personality – has anyone seen the old (90's old) show Babylon 5? Think what the PsyCore (the group of human psychics) did to the former chief of security. They didn't erase his memories or add any subtle programming, they just made him more angry, bitter, and he ended up doing just what they wanted him to do without needing too much additional input/orders.

Besides, if you read any Marvel you'd know that brainwashing is so cannon. It's happened to almost everyone at some point in time.

Please Read and Review.

Dreamingfox


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Notes –

Yes, I've been busy lately – what do you expect, it's the holidays.

And of course I've been writing irregularly due to the lack of my own computer and having to share one with the wife.

Just a reminder since some of the reviews indicate that readers may not understand what happened to the superhero teams like the X-men, Fantastic Four, and Avengers. Professor X, a.k.a. Charles Xavier, is dead, so is Emma Frost, two of the foremost telepaths in the world, so they're not going to be around to undo the brainwashing on Ranma.

Yes, Brainwashing is very canon in Marvel, and of course it won't last forever. Ranma's not necessarily weak-minded, but he is being brainwashed by telepaths who are trained to do that. Even guys like Logan have been brainwashed (and un-brainwashed) without much difficulty.

Yes, 'Gook' is generally reserved for Koreans, but having been called a 'gook' often enough without actually being of Korean descent, I know from first-hand knowledge that not everyone who uses that insult use it properly.

* * * * *

Though it was nearly seven months since New York had nearly been destroyed by the tsunami as a result of Magneto using his powers to alter the planet's magnetic fields, the vibrant city wasn't completely rebuilt despite their claims to the contrary. Entire blocks of devastated buildings stood vacant, condemned to be demolished as a result of the damage they had suffered while submerged. Many of those vacant buildings weren't as vacant as they were supposed to be as broken survivors who didn't want to return to their ruined lives and broken homes sought refuge and shelter in the rundown buildings.

But not everyone who sought shelter in the vacant buildings were there for the same reasons. Some simply used the buildings to hide away from humanity as they were themselves seen as enemies of humanity.

"I heard you went looking for me," a feral voice growled from the shadows of the ruined building.

"I was," the girl once called Marian replied.

"Got some nice pictures of you on the job in Montreal," the shadowy figure growled.

"I did what I needed to," the young woman stated. Brushing back the white streaks in her hair she peered into the shadows.

"I heard that you were the last mutant to be seen with Cain."

"Yeah, he was in Montreal and told me that you weren't around anymore. He even gave me the Gem of Cyttorak, said that I'd need it more than he did."

"Juggernaut's dead because of that."

The young woman blinked.

"I see you didn't know about that."

"What do you know Creed?"

"They say that some anti-mutant group came after him," the beastly man stated as he stepped out of the shadows. "Whomever it was caught up with him in Seattle when the volcano blew up."

"That was four months ago. I saw him take a dart to the eye when the mansion was attacked right after your old boss nearly destroyed the entire world."

"You think even a poison dart to the eye would have killed him, Rogue?" the muscular man asked. "Even though he gave you that gem, it still gave him some power and a healing factor that was nearly as good as mine. But now that he's dead I'm sure you'll gain those powers soon, seeing as you absorbed his powers and have the gem now."

The superheroine known as Rogue unconsciously patted the magical stone hanging between her breasts. Though she did not know Cain Marko had used the mysterious gem to increase his powers, she had kept the momento to honor the fallen mutant (and one of the men that loved her). Would the stone bestow her with powers as it did with Cain?

"You've yet to go back to the mansion since our last run-in," Creed smiled tauntingly. "Of course you wouldn't have known that he dug himself out of the grave that you and the others had put him in."

"How'd he die than?"

"The guy that hunted him down took his head," the mutant known as Sabretooth growled.

"Just one person took down the Juggernaut?" Rogue exclaimed. "Even without the gem he was strong, stronger than even Colossus, and if he was still enhanced by the gem he was essentially unstoppable."

"The guy took his head off with one clean strike," Creed hissed. "Even Logan and I couldn't recover from that. But this guy is good. He's apparently fast and strong because Juggernaut never got a good shot in on the guy."

"So what are you telling me for?"

"I smelled him the other day," Creed stated. "I don't know which one he was, his scent's changed since he took down Juggernaut, but it's definitely him."

Marian blinked. Whoever killed the Juggernaut was in New York? That wasn't good. If he was going after mutants than he was probably going after either herself, Kitty, or Bobby – or they had followed Creed to New York.

"I'm leaving town," the muscular mutant stated. "I'll let you guys deal with him."

"Creed," the young woman said, forcing the other mutant to pause, "how'd you get away from the Ultimates anyways?"

"Do you think the Ultimates could keep me locked up forever?"

* * * * *

Despite six months of cleaning the small brownstone that Ranma lived in still smelled like salt water and seafood. Still, it was a good place. The small apartment would have once been considered large and lavish in Tokyo as it had a large living room, kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom. Hell, the bedroom was larger than the one he had shared with his father, and the kitchen was nearly as large as the Tendo's kitchen. True, the bathroom was small as it only fit a standing shower, toilet, and sink. Regardless, the place served its purpose.

Pulling open his small, laptop, Ranma plugged in his headphones and began to watch the video dossier on Kitty Pride and her companions, the mutants known that the X-men.

* * * * *

"I heard that the Po-po found the Kingpin."

"Yeah, someone threw that fat bastard out of his office window."

"Why the hell was the King Pin back in New York?"

"Who cares, he's dead."

"Didn't they convict him of murder?"

"Wasn't he in jail?"

"Yeah, but he got off on a technicality; something about the loss of evidence against him when the police station or court house got flooded."

"Maybe that mutant did it."

"Yeah, she used to date Spider-man, and everyone knows he had issues with the King Pin."

"She probably did it to get back on his good side."

"Spider-man is so dreamy."

"I got his autograph the other day."

"Ooh, let me see!"

"No way!"

"It's fake!"

"I got it the other night when he was stopped the robbery at that new fast food place down the street."

"No way!"

"You remember that one time he saved us?"

"When the Hulk was rampaging? How could I forget that?! I thought we were gonna die for sure."

"You remember how Spider-man stood up to the army after the Hulk left?"

"That was so cool!"

Peter couldn't help but add a bit of a bounce to his step as he caught word of the latest gossip. It had taken him nearly dying as his alter-ego to get the recognition that he deserved, but it was well worth it. Now people were greeting and helping him as he went web-slinging, pointing out the direction that the bad guys went and not thinking that he was trying to rob them or beat them up (unless of course they were the bad guys and he was about to beat them up).

It almost made him feel like coming out as Spider-man… almost. With nearly half of New York demolished, and half of the Ultimates wiped out, Peter knew better than anyone that his many enemies were still out there, and with fewer heroes around he'd make plenty more while also lacking the numbers to help him if push came to shove.

They'd already gotten Gwen once, he wouldn't risk that again; no, not when his life was going so much better and had so much going for him.

Kitty could handle herself, and as fun as it was to hang out with her, he really didn't feel the same way about her as she had felt for him.

And then there was Mary Jane. She'd dumped him after everyone had thought that he was dead (both him-him and Spider-man-him) and came back to life stating that she just couldn't take the emotional strain of never knowing if he'd be alright after one of his fights. To be honest, it had been bad as he'd been in the remains of the Tri-skeleton for a week, but tsunamis and the Hulk don't hit New York all the time.

Taking his usual seat beside his lovely (and affectionate) girlfriend, Peter smiled at the beautiful blond.

"I'm just saying," he heard Kong say as he once again sat close to, but not beside, the school's resident mutant, "Ranma doesn't seem to be a bad guy, and he clearly knows how to handle himself. Why I shouldn't ask him if he wants to sit with us?"

"Hey Kong, Kitty, what's up?" the nerdy youth asked. Peter had accepted his role as a nerd a long time ago. As such he was used to the teasing that came with that role in high school. It was because he was pretty much teased as much as possible that he knew the kind of unwarranted punishment that Kitty was enduring. Nothing he could do would deflect any unwanted attention away from Kitty as mutants had fallen further in the last six months than anyone expect perhaps Magneto and Professor Xavier had, imagined, and both of them were dead.

"I was telling Kitty that we should invite the new kid to sit with us," the tall, rotund boy stated. "You know, strength in numbers and all. He helped stand up for Kitty and he even took out Flash and the jocks when they confronted him about it."

"Really?" Gwen asked, slightly surprised at the feat.

"Yeah, he just ducked under their punches and kept away from them until they ran out of juice," the bigger boy stated. "Even O'neil couldn't lay a finger on him. Ranma took O'neil out with just one move."

"O'neil? The third degree black-belt?" the redhead exclaimed as she sat down across from Kitty. "Wow, that's big news, wish I was there to _record_ it."

Kitty glared at the redhead. It had been her fault that the school reporter no longer had a digital recorder, but it was the redhead's fault for trying to record the school bullies as they tried to taunt and harass her at lunch.

Trying not to focus on the very happy nerd, the redhead scanned the gymnasium for the pigtailed student from Japan.

"Ranma!" the exclaimed, waving at the handsome martial artist.

"Hey," Kong added, moving over so that there was room for the smaller boy.

With no one welcoming the new student to their table Ranma was forced to accept their offer.

"So, I hear that Japan got hit pretty hard," the ever inquisitive redhead stated as Ranma took a seat beside the larger boy.

"Wow, you're really jumping the gun there MJ," Gwen said as she handed Peter a soda. "You barely know the guy and you're already talking about the greatest disaster that hit his native country. Don't you think to start with something small like how he likes New York?"

Ranma wasn't sure if the verbal barbs were sincere or just playful given that everyone at the table seemed to be fairly friendly, though it did remind him a bit of his own relationship with Ryoga and Mousse.

"True, asking that would be an easy question that could open up the conversation, but seeing as how we never know how long we can have a decent conversation it's best to jump to the meat of the conversation," the redhead countered.

As if to prove her point the local jocks and thugs began lobbing their half-eaten food at the brunette. A juicy splatter filled the air as Kong swatted the offending article down. "Just knock it off!" the large boy shouted as he stood up to shield the smaller girl from the new barrage of missiles.

Rather than just swat things down, Ranma decided to deal with the source directly, throwing bits of tomato, soggy bread, and limp lettuce at each of the offending jocks, nailing each one squarely on the forehead or cheek and instantly stopping their assault. The quick counter attack swiftly ended the assault, silencing even the rowdy jocks.

The rest of the day flew by with few interruptions in any of their classes. Though he expected another scene like the one from the day before, Ranma wasn't surprised when nothing happened after school let out.

With little to do Ranma slipped into a dark alley. Splashing a bit of cold water onto himself he triggered his transformation. Smaller and faster, the busty redhead quickly followed the elusive brunette as she made her way home. Observing her behavior and her habits discretely, Ranma made mental notes of his target.

* * * * *

His first week in New York flew by with little to show for it other than that Ranma had grudgingly earned the respect of those he sat with during lunch. Only the redhead and the bald boy seemed to open up to Ranma, though for his part the inarticulate Japanese student rarely spoke.

"What are you doing tomorrow?" Kong asked as he settled in beside Ranma.

Shrugging, Ranma kept his attention focused on his meager meal.

"Why don't you go to the mall with us?" MJ suggested. "It's where all most all the American kids go when they want to just hang out and be with their friends."

"Kitty said that she wanted to see that new movie tomorrow," the bigger boy stated. "We're supposed to meet up with some of our friends who moved away after… you know…"

"That sounds like fun," Gwen added. "If we can drag Johnny out we'll meet up with you guys."

"Sure," Ranma finally replied. "But where's the mall, there are so many around here."

The other teens blinked.

"You don't know where the mall is?" MJ exclaimed. "What's your address? I'll meet up with you and take you to the mall."

Ranma blinked. "That's alright, just give me the address and I'll find it."

True to his word Ranma arrived, though he was slightly miffed that he was the first to arrive. Standing in front of the doors to the building Ranma waited for a few minutes before the now familiar redhead waved to him.

"Hey Ranma," Mary Jane greeted, "been waiting long?"

Ranma shrugged, "Nah, just got here."

It really was annoying not being able to openly leap from roof to roof. Though he really wanted to Ranma knew that doing so in New York would garner the wrong kind of attention on himself, especially with all the superheroes around. Yes, he did it in his cursed form, but only occasionally and usually when he was sure no one else was around.

Never one to take (or pay) for public transportation, Ranma simply walked the two or three miles (he still needed to learn how to convert kilometers to miles) and left a small trail of destruction in his wake as he took the shortest route possible (which included several back alley stops that resulted in him cleaning the back alleys of the thugs) to get to where he was going and didn't let anything get in his way (as the thugs would attest to).

"Hey," Kong shouted as he got off the bus.

"Yo," Ranma replied with a nod.

Peter and Gwen were next to arrive as they also appeared to have walked with their slightly emo blond friend Johnny. Peter smelled of grease, typical of someone who had just completed a shift at a fast food joint. Americans loved their grease. Johnny looked like he was trying to emulate Ryoga on one of his more depressing days, but the ever cheerful Gwen Stacy in her bright yellow top and light, bright green vest and skirt more than made up for Johnny's dark disposition.

Kitty was the last to arrive, though she did so with a brunette with white highlighted bangs. Wearing a simple light brown top and tight jeans, Kitty seemed slightly distracted. Her companion with the highlights wore a form-fitting jeans and a deep V-neck t-shirt that displayed the deep curves of her breasts as well as the almost glowing gem that hung from her neck. The leather bomber jacket helped to hide her figure from a distance, but up close it was hard not to notice.

"Ro-Marian," Peter said as he caught himself, "how are you doing?"

Ranma instantly recognized the older brunette with the highlights as her file had appeared in his dossier. She was the mutant known as Rogue, capable of draining the life out of those she touched and stealing their powers. But the gem… wasn't that the same gem that had given the Juggernaut his near invincibility and enhanced his already powerful strength?

Following the group around, the pigtailed martial artist couldn't help but think that he was missing something, but what? Like that ever elusive sneeze that hinted at the need to blow his nose but never really did anything but annoy you, something about being around this particular group of teens made Ranma feel off.

Checking his facts, Ranma reviewed everything he knew. Kitty Pride was a mutant and was once part of a superhero team that consisted of all mutants known as the X-men. The girl known as Marian was also a mutant but once belonged to a different faction but ultimately joined the X-men. Johnny looked very much like Johnny Storm of the Fantastic Four fame. So there were three superheroes hanging out in the mall.

Kitty Pride, also known as Shadowcat, had dated Spider-man…

Were Ranma any less graceful he would have tripped, as it was he walked into Mary Jane as the redhead had stopped to look at some article of clothing in the store window.

"Sorry," he apologized as he took a step back.

Peter Parker was Spider-man. No wonder he knew who Rogue was.

Had Ranma been more observant, he would have picked up on the fact that there was odd tension between Peter and Mary Jane (and between Peter and Kitty).

Now how could he use that information to his advantage?

* * * * *

"I think he likes you," Gwen teased as she eyed the redhead's reflection.

"Who?" Mary Jane replied as she turned around to check her reflection.

"Ranma," the blond smirked. Yes, directing the redhead away from her boyfriend (and the redhead's ex) would be a good thing. Kong was trying his best to impress Kitty, but that still left Mary Jane. But with Ranma in the picture…

"No way," the redhead replied skeptically.

"Well he did 'bump' into you before, and we all know he's supposed to be a very good martial artist; he wouldn't just bump into someone on accident," Gwen stated. "And he only agreed to come here when you got into the conversation."

Despite her obvious feelings for Peter, Mary Jane couldn't help but blush. What girl didn't get flustered when a cute guy appeared to be attracted to her?

* * * * *

"You know I can handle myself," Kitty whispered lightly as she stood beside Marian.

"We already had this conversation," the woman known as Rogue replied.

"Yeah, someone's hunting down mutants," the smaller girl muttered well out of earshot of the protective Kong.

"He's not just hunting down mutants, he's killing them too," the girl with white highlights added. "He took out the Juggernaut."

"I thought Cain was, you know…"

"We were all wrong," Rogue said as she shook her head. "The gem gave him a magical healing factor, but whoever killed him took that into account."

"So even with his magical enhancements he was beaten? Are you sure he's really dead this time?"

Rogue nodded. "Jean and I checked it out ourselves. It's definitely his remains, and who ever took him down took his helmet."

Kitty blinked. "So?"

"So," Rogue huffed as she idly grabbed an outfit and held it so that she could get a better image of how she'd look in it, "that helmet let Cain track any mutant that was part of Weapon X. It also lets them sense anyone with an active X-gene within a mile."

"Oh."

* * * * *

Absently pondering his situation while trying to act normal around the other teens, Ranma followed the others around as he tried to play the role of a teenager who was interested in a normal life.

"So what'd you do in Japan for fun?" MJ asked as she waited for the others to get their food. Though it was fairly late for lunch, it was just after the lunch rush, leaving the café court area less crowded for the fairly large group of teens. Yet with all the other teens in their group, she had ended up waiting with Ranma for everyone else. Maybe Gwen was right and Ranma was interested in her.

"We just watched TV a lot," he replied with a shrug.

Mary Jane nodded even as she took a sip from her cola. "Have you ever seen the show Ninja Warrior or that game show where they have the contestants doing all those crazy challenges?"

Ranma blinked, he hadn't expected that, "No."

"Oh."

The pair was saved from the awkward silence as Johnny dragged himself over to the table and took a seat at the end of the table.

"Johnny?" the redhead called out, obviously concerned about the boy's lack of energy.

"Hm?"

"You alright?"

"Hn."

Slowly the other teens gathered around the table as they sought some degree of escape from the world around them. As the only official couple in the group Peter and Gwen sat beside each other, barely able to contain their very public displays of affection as everyone else tried to ignore them.

"So, you're from Japan, huh?" the older girl known as Marian asked as she turned her attention to Ranma. "What made you decide to come here?"

Pushing his French fry into some mayo mixed with black pepper, the pigtailed boy shrugged. "There's not much left of Japan," he stated.

It was an atypical response, but one that was easily believed as the hundreds of thousands of Japanese survivors had become refugees simply because Japan lacked the natural resources to properly rebuild. Add in the fact that there was a language barrier and few people pressed the point.

"Is it true that all Asians know kung fu?" Kong teased.

Ranma smirked. "Kung Fu is Chinese," the pigtailed martial artist replied. "Most Japanese practice Karate, I guess I'm an exception because I know bits of both."

"What about Tae Kwon Do?" Gwen asked.

"Korean," the martial artist replied.

"So what are the 'Martial Arts'?" Mary Jane asked.

Taking a deep breath Ranma leaned back. "Martial Arts are styles that not only have applications in self-defense, but can be used to entertain and tell a story. Martial Artists aren't just people who know the various forms, but who use their skills to tell stories and to protect others. That's why lots of actors in Hong Kong know some form of martial arts. It makes for great action and stunts, but they also help protect the weak."

"Help!" someone shouted from the lower level. "Thief!"

Reflexively Ranma, Kitty, Kong, and Rogue turned towards the railing, forgetting their conversation as they sought to find the cause of the woman's distress. The sight of a tall cloaked man running with a woman's purse immediately caught their attention as the thief ran over people on his way to the door.

Before anyone could respond Ranma lobbed his soda at the fleeing thief, nailing him squarely in the head and sending the thug sprawling into a table. Dazed, the thief lay there as the mall security piled on him and recovered the woman's purse.

"It's a martial artist's duty to protect the weak," he stated as the others looked at him.

"Have you thought about joining the baseball team?" Mary Jane asked.

* * * * *

A/N

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas everyone. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please read and review.

Dreamingfox.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Notes –

Yes, it's me. Now that I've got some time I hope to get some more writing done. That said, I hope that everyone has a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you all.

Enjoy.

* * * * *

After a few weeks of living in America Ranma was beginning to understand why the Americans relied so much on 'Superheroes'. Not only were Americans much less disciplined (they only went to school five days a week and the students didn't even help out with the duties at the school), they seemed to think that society owed them rather than that they needed to do their part to strengthen society. And with the 'super-villains' running around they seemed to think that they did not need to help maintain order in society.

Looking back at the incident at the mall the pigtailed martial artist couldn't help but think that if there hadn't been mutants and superheroes around no one would have moved to assist the woman that had fallen victim to the thief.

Try as he might, the pigtailed martial artist just couldn't understand Americans. Why did they feel the need to hide their faces unless they were doing something wrong or illegal? Happosai hid his face when he was stealing panties, but Ranma needed no mask to face down the old letch. In fact everyone in Nerima knew who he was and that most of the destruction in Nerima was either a direct or indirect result of Ranma's actions. And as martial artist his old man and Mr. Tendo had been called upon to assist in dealing with various issues (namely Happosai).

So why did Peter feel the need to hide the fact that he was Spider-man?

To find the answer to that question Ranma knew he needed to find a way into the Parker's residence.

But rather than staking out the Parker's rather non-descript house, the vengeful martial artist went hunting for mutants. With the Juggernaut's tracker in hand Ranma wandered around New York in his female form it didn't take her long to find a mutant.

Unfortunately for Ranma the feline-like girl wasn't what he was capable of dealing with, not given his phobia. Still the cat-girl proved to be a good lead as she led him to a small cadre of mutants currently residing in an abandoned building.

* * * * *

Despite the many months that she'd been wearing a mask, Jessica Drew had never come across such a grisly scene. The sight of several carefully executed mutants wasn't easy.

"From the way the blood sprayed the walls and floor I'd say that whomever attacked them at least gave them a warning," the mutant known as Rogue stated.

"Yes," Spider-woman agreed. "Probably just one attacker – he declared himself at the door then fired something at the light. They fired back but he somehow managed to get past the first wave and took off the spiky guy's arms. I'm guessing he had a sword."

"So we're looking for a guy with a sword," Rogue muttered as she took a tally of the dead mutants. As an official agent of Shield, the registered mutant had been sent to investigate the murdered mutants. "You didn't see anything when you came in?"

The masked girl shook her head. "Whoever did this is fast," the rogue Shield operative stated, "maybe not Quicksilver fast but fast enough to elude me."

"You see where he was going?"

"He slipped into an abandoned building and gave me the slip," Spider-woman replied. "Make sure you don't include me on your report."

"Don't worry, I won't," the mutant replied. "If you could, stop by Kitty's and let her know that I won't be able to swing by and visit. And let her know that she needs to keep her eyes open for any trouble."

* * * * *

There was once a time when Ranma had refrained from using lethal force, but that was a different life-time. Still, it didn't make things any easier for Ranma as the now female and redheaded girl threw up into the sewer. As much as she wanted to blame it on the awful stench in the dark tunnels, the martial artist knew better.

Setting the enchanted blade aside, she quickly stripped, throwing her clothes onto the pile of vomit before dousing it with gasoline. Throwing a small timed flash bomb into the bin, Ranma threw it into the small tunnel. There the small package would find its way to another lost chamber before being set on without tainting Ranma's hidden chamber. Rushing into the small secret side chamber, she jumped into the shower and washed the stench of the sewer and her vomit from her as well as triggering her transformation. Now male again, he quickly dried off and dressed.

He had another meeting to make after all.

* * * * *

Mary Jane couldn't help herself. Her inquisitive nature just couldn't resist the urge to try and find more information about Ranma. Though she knew that Japan had nearly been wiped off the map, she hoped that there were some records. Reading through the old newspaper records she nearly felt her jaw hit the desk. Having witnessed many of Peter/Spider-man's fights first hand and seen the level of destruction that resulted, Mary Jane had thought that she'd seen a lot of construction and repair work done. But the sheer number of reports of damage on a nearly daily basis made everything but the damage from the Hulk's rampage and the tsunami.

Sudden and unexpected tornados, bombs going off in the park, walls and fences being smashed indiscriminately, and the sheer number of missing bras and panties… Mary Jane shuddered. Nerima sounded terrible.

But what really stood out to the inquisitive girl were the reports and articles from a girl's blog about the misadventures of the many highly skilled martial artists that frequented Nerima, or at least that particular part of Nerima that she was from. When she checked the dates of the blog entries and compared them to the newspaper articles and reports they coincided, explaining the cause of some of the damage.

Was Ranma really the center of all the damage and chaos?

Hands trembling, Mary Jane just hoped that the translation software wasn't accurate as it could mean that Ranma had some degree of super-power. There was just no way that a normal person could create a tornado on the fly, or that they could create a glowing light that destroyed a baseball field, or shoot orbs of golden energy from their hands.

Why couldn't she find a nice, normal guy?

* * * * *

"Your target's gone," Konatsu stated. "You have a few days to dispose of the girls."

Ranma perked up at the news. Two days to dispose of the mutants without blowing his cover. But how to take out Pride? Her intangibility would be a problem, but he'd be able to figure it out; eventually. "What about Firestar?"

"If you run into her again take her out," the cross-dressing ninja stated. "Don't let her get away again."

Nodding, the pigtailed boy waited for the cross-dressing ninja's presence to fade, leaving him alone to plan out his attack.

* * * * *

As the most powerful telepath alive (a title that the redhead had not wished to acquire the way she had) and a founding member of the X-men, Jean Grey was supposed to be one of the foremost experts on mutants. As a mutant herself she was no stranger to being harassed and persecuted for what she was.

Seeing the carnage laid out before her though the redheaded mutant shook her head.

"Are you getting anything Jean?" the young woman beside her asked.

The redhead shook her head, "Sorry Rogue, I'm not picking anything up. Ever since Magneto went crazy there have been so many more people who harbor animosity towards mutants that it's hard to pick out just one."

"Thanks," the younger mutant replied. "I figured that it was at least worth a shot."

Rogue looked over the various dossiers of the slain mutants. "None of them have fire powers," she stated. "And it doesn't look like whoever attacked them was a fire user either."

Touching the closest scorch mark, the redhead closed her eyes, "It's Liz."

* * * * *

Checking his reflection in the mirror, Ranma made sure that the paint was dry before splashing himself with some cold water. Wiping away the remaining water, the redhead quickly dressed herself. Grabbing the mutant sensor/tracker from the shelf Ranma went on the prowl.

Of all the many tricks that the ancient ghoul formerly known as Cologne had taught him, Ranma had to admit that the Soul of Ice was the most useful. Not only was it useful for him to keep his cool (especially since his own techniques centered on upsetting his opponents) it also helped him sense changes in the temperature of the air as well as small air currents. Combined with the components from the Juggernaut's helmet and Ranma had a good lock on Firestar.

Not only was she a former X-man, a team of supposed super-heroes, but she was also the daughter of the mutant known as the Blob, a founding member of the Brotherhood of Mutants that Magneto once lead. Yes, killing her would be very satisfying.

If only he hadn't tried to save her for last the young blond wouldn't have gotten away the last time. Though he hadn't laid a hand on her the last time, he had connected with several Hiryu Shoten Ha, which had managed daze the flying mutant as well as caused her to fly away.

Despite her ability to fly the blond only had so much power and energy. Yes, she might be powerful, but she had little control over her powers and wasted too much energy trying to contain her powers. Had she just gone all out she might have killed him with her first volley. Of course she would have burnt her companions to a crisp as well, but she would have been fine physically.

Considering that she was essentially stationary the short amount of time since their brief fight, it went without saying that she was probably healing and resting in what she thought was a safe and secure place. Making her way through the streets, Ranma didn't even have to fly, roof-hop, or web-sling to close the distance between himself and the injured mutant.

Less than a block away she stopped as three more mutants appeared on the radar, one of them marked as Rogue. Maybe she could take care of the handful of mutants in one fell swoop.

* * * * *

"What's he doing here?" a clearly surprised Peter Parker exclaimed as he looked at the young mutant currently seated on his couch.

"His mother threw him out," the elderly woman with graying hair stated. "I tried to talk with her but it was, well, awful about it. What kind of woman throws out her own son?"

"So he's going to stay here now?" Peter replied.

"There's still a bed open in the guest room," Aunt May said with a reassuring smile. "They'll just have to double up for now."

"B-but…?"

"Peter," she said reassuringly, "I know that I can't do anything to really help you with your, other life, but this is all that I can do. Please, just let me this."

Reluctantly nodding, the scrawny youth gave in.

"Thanks," the young mutant said with a weak smile.

"Thanks," the brunette added. If not for the fact that she had told her former teammate and friend that he could stay with her.

The sudden beeping of her long unused but not forgotten communicator drew everyone's attention. Given the company that she was currently in, the young mutant known as Shadowcat didn't feel the need to be too discrete about the incoming call. Checking the incoming message she looked up at Bobby, Peter, and Johnny. "They might have found Liz."

* * * * *

Considering all that happened to New York she was in fact lucky to be alive. But that was six months ago. Everything before that was a hazy blur. She wasn't sure if the blur was because she was repressing her past life or if it was a result of the trauma that she'd endured when the giant wall of water hit New York.

The slight blond didn't even know her own name, though she did know for a fact that she was a mutant. Given how horrible people were treating mutants she knew that she couldn't just announce what she was. Especially since mutants were forced to register. Something about registering just felt wrong.

Somehow she'd managed to find other unregistered mutants and with their help she'd managed to survive the past six months. With their help she managed to reign in her powers and had begun to actually control the fiery energies that she produced.

And then the busty little redhead had popped in and killed the rest of the surviving mutants. If only she had more control over her powers she could have stopped the redheaded killer. As it was she'd barely managed to escape even as the others died in her place. Injured as she was she'd barely managed to get away from the speedy assailant even with her ability to fly.

Forced to nurse her wounds from the odd golden orbs that the redhead had shot at her, the young mutant had counted her blessing when she'd found the decrepit and abandoned building.

Frightened and tired, she curled up on a battered mattress. Slumbering lightly (something she'd learned to do since the disaster) she stirred as she heard the faint yet distinct sound of footsteps approaching her. Clutching her injured ribs the blond forced herself to her feet. Unable to make out much in the darkness the injured girl concentrated, igniting a cabinet across the room and giving herself just enough light to see the two shadowy figures standing in the doorway on the other side of the room.

"Liz?" the lead figure called out.

Stepping into the light the two women revealed themselves to the injured girl.

"Who are you?" she demanded weakly.

"She's lost her memory," the redhead stated as she scanned the younger girl's mind.

"D-do you know me?" the blond asked.

"Liz, what happened to you?" the shorter of the two women asked as she reached out for the younger girl. "Who attacked you?"

"I did," Ranma stated as she silently rushed in and slammed her fist into the small of Rogue's back, sending the older teen crashing into the wall. A swift sweeping kick knocked the feet out from underneath the untransformed Colossus while its follow-through connected with the telepath's side, sending her sprawling. Having already assessed her opponents the busty redhead delivered a powerful kick to the telepath's head and taking her out of the fight.

Before she could follow up and completely remove her from the equation the powerful Russian transformed and lashed out blindly, smashing the floor out from beneath her. Dodging the blow and the crumbling floor, Ranma deftly landed on the bio-metal mutant, sending him through the floor even as she launched a golden orb of light at the fiery blond that intercepted her blast of fire. Kicking off of the startled Colossus the pigtailed girl rushed at Rogue and grabbed the teen's jacket, making sure not to actually touch the girl's skin, and flipped the mutant into the air and sending her into and through the closest wall.

Before she could capitalize on the attack the pigtailed girl suddenly and instinctively pulled back, narrowly avoiding a barrage of icicles that came flying at her. Kicking off the ground she flipped over a series of fiery balls even as a string of webs pulled the telepath out of harm's way.

"What do we have here?" the witty young superhero started. "I know that this place was scheduled for demolition, but couldn't you wait for everyone to get out first?"

Assessing her new opponents, Ranma continued to dodge their attacks. Though it appeared as if she were on the defensive, Ranma knew that she had the advantage. Her personal style was centered on taking advantage of her opponents' openings as they attacked rather than delivering knock out blows. Gracefully dodging Spider-man as the powerful young superhero rushed in with a fierce punch Ranma deftly grabbed the kid's wrist and sent his flying through a wall. Well, that was her intention, but only a timely save from Shadowcat allowed Spider-man to avoid crashing into the wall as the pair phased through the wall. Though Ranma easily dodged the blasts of fire and ice, the decrepit building couldn't handle the hits that were intended for the busty girl. With the building slowly falling down around her, the young martial artist decided to take advantage of the heat generated by two of her opponents.

Letting Colossus rush in she swept his legs out from undreneath him, before throwing him into Iceman, sending the pair of X-men crashing through the wall and temporarily removing them from the fight. As undisciplined as they were in the martial arts it was easy for Ranma to set them up for the Shi Shi Hokodan as he easily avoided their combined attacks and drew the spiraling pattern inside the battered building. Dodge, dodge, parry, dodge, parry… slowly she drew the spiral tighter and tighter as she let her opponents think that they had the upper hand. Ducking under a wild flying kick from Spider-man, Ranma fell back and countered with the corkscrewing punch that combined her icy cold aura and the heat generated from her opponents.

As the last person to attack and being right over Ranma as the busty redhead unleashed the attack, Spider-man caught the brunt of the attack as he was suddenly sent flying. As fliers themselves Johnny and Liz thought to fly away to safety only to have their flaming bodies add more fuel to the powerful attack that the redhead unleashed on them. Swept up in the sudden maelstrom Rogue, Colossus and a recovering Jean suddenly found themselves airborne. It didn't help that the ruined building was breaking apart and adding debris to the powerful winds that suddenly appeared.

* * * * *

In six months the young probie had been kept busy. Yes, working as a Shield agent in a world that had been nearly destroyed by mutants was supposed to keep him busy, it was just that Jason Green had expected to be out in the field, not monitoring activity in New York. True, New York was supposed to be home to the largest population of mutants in the world, but with so many of them now registered there was little to do, especially with the rebuilding of the great city.

But the sudden tornado that appeared out of nowhere was definitely something he hadn't expected. Yes, there was a mutant who was capable of controlling and manipulating the weather, but she was currently meeting with the acting director of Shield.

"Ma'am," the young agent said, trying to interrupt the meeting behind him. "Director Devers," he added, when the acting director didn't say anything. "I think you need to see this."

"What is it Agent Green?" the clearly irritated acting director asked as she turned away from the acting leader of the X-Men.

Hitting a button Jason put his display on the giant big screen for everyone to see. The powerful tornado that had appeared in one of the suburbs was clearly visible to everyone present. It was also apparent that there were several figures being pummeled by the debris as they were thrown around by the fierce, man-made winds.

"Oh my," the elegant woman with white hair exclaimed as she looked at the giant monitor, "I believe those are some of the X-men."

"I sent Rogue and Jean to investigate the slaying of several unregistered mutants," Carol stated. "I think they found the killer. Storm, it looks like you'll have to assist them. If whoever they're fighting is powerful enough to create tornados like that than we'll definitely need you on sight. I'll send the Ultimates to back you up."

Though she was reluctant to accept the help of the remaining Ultimates, a team that her own team had clashed with in the past, Storm knew that given the fact that both teams were currently short-handed they would need all the help they could get, especially against someone who was currently man-handling several X-men, Spider-man, and Johnny Storm.

* * * * *

Mary Jane felt her stomach hit the floor as she watched the debris shower the neighborhood. Yes, the stories she'd read of Ranma's exploits in Nerima were true. So why was he fighting Kitty and the others?

"Mary Jane!" Gwen and Aunt May shouted in unison.

Ignoring their cries of protest, the young teen pumped her legs and ran towards the empty lot that much of the debris was landing in. Hopefully Peter and the others would be alright.

* * * * *

Ranma had to admit, she was impressed. Not with the X-men or Spider-man, who weren't living up to her expectations at all, but with herself. Here she was, a slightly unusual person but still just a pure human, fighting against Spider-man, Johnny Storm (a.k.a. the Human Torch), Firestar, Shadowcat, Rogue, and Colossus. True, none of them had her level of skill and discipline, but they had freaking superpowers. Strength – Spider-man, Rogue and Colossus; flying – Shadowcat, Firestar, Marvel Girl, and Shadowcat; energy draining – Rogue; telepathy and telekinesis – Marvel Girl; and being able to phase through walls – Shadowcat. Yes, she was doing very well against these 'heroes'.

As powerful as they were, the 'superheroes' couldn't fight, not after he had unleashed his ultimate attack on them. All that was left were the durable Colossus and nearly invulnerable Rogue. Yes, she clearly had absorbed some of the Juggernaut's powers, and with the gem around her neck she clearly had some of those enhancements as well.

Grabbing the bio-metal mutant's leg, Ranma pulled Colossus into a tight, powerful spin. After two quick rotations she released the large mutant, sending him on a collision course with Rogue. Yes, the two powerful mutants would survive, but hopefully Rogue's ability to drain whoever she touched would take Colossus out of the fight.

Her plan would have worked if not for the timely intervention of Kitty Pride as the petite brunette appeared out of the ground and grabbed hold of Rogue, phasing the pair of them so that Colossus flew harmlessly through them and into a the side of the condemned building next to the open lot they were fighting in. Not bothering to watch as the building slowly collapsed on top of the mutant Ranma fired off a pair of glowing golden orbs at the two girls. The sudden impact of the golden life energy on the clearly started and surprised Shadowcat and Rogue stunned the pair of mutants.

With the knowledge that manifested ki could injure or at least connect with an intangible Shadowcat, Ranma rushed in as she sought to take her out of the equation. Her hands glowing with a golden light Ranma connected with a short range blast right to the brunette's chest. Just as she was about to finish off Kitty with a second blast she instinctively jumped back as Spiderwoman tried to subdue her with her webbing. Forced to fire off the second ball of ki to avoid the second barrage of webbing, Ranma leap towards her newest opponent and forced the masked hero back. A swift, high sweep barely connected despite Spiderwoman's best attempt to jump over and away from the attack. Thrown slightly off balance the blond shot her webbing at the building and pulled hard, putting more distance between herself and the busty redhead.

Pulling out a handful of nuts and washers the redhead began flicking them at Spiderwoman, forcing her to scramble as the tiny bits of metal assaulted her. Grunting in pain Spiderwoman knew that the tiny yet powerful projectiles could prove deadly if she managed to take one to the head.

It was clear to Ranma from the way the blond moved that she'd had some training, a major difference between the two spider people. While Peter relied on his wit and emotions, Spiderwoman clearly was the calmer and cooler fighter, relying on her training rather than instinct.

Out of the corner of her eyes Ranma saw Spiderman slowly pulling himself out of the rubble. Worse still was the fact that Colossus and Rogue were once again rejoining the fight. Throwing the last of her handful of tiny projectiles, Ranma decided to get serious.

"Parker, you suck!" the redhead shouted, startling the recovering Spider-man. "All that power and you got no skills to go with it! At least this chick here knows how to fight. I bet you'd lose to her straight up! I can't believe you don't even measure up to this girl!"

Dodging the webbing that Spiderwoman shot at her the redhead grabbed the line and pulled, overpowering the slight blond despite her super strength. Swinging her around Ranma slammed her into the remains of the building that Colossus was emerging from.

"I thought you were just a nerd Parker!" she taunted. "But I guess you're not smart enough to know when you're beat!"

Leaping in Spider-man threw another wild overhead right only to end up with Ranma's foot in his face. Using the web-slinger's momentum against him the redhead rolled onto her back before delivering a punishing kick to Spider-man's stomach.

Ranma knew that Peter wasn't expecting a solid hit as the kid used to bouncing around to deflect the brunt of the blow, but when push came to shove, the kid could take a hit as the kicks to his face and stomach rocked him but didn't take him out of the fight. But how much could he take?

Grabbing Spider-man's head Ranma slammed her knee into his face, shattering the glass plating over his right eye. A second knee drew blood, probably from his nose. Jumping up Ranma flipped in the air even as she held onto Spiderman's head/mask, forcing him to stand nearly erect as a freezing blast hit the young superhero instead of its intended target.

Charging Iceman the young martial artist expertly avoided several blasts from the most powerful of the founding members of the X-men. A dozen lightning quick strikes broke through Bobby's icy armor, allowing Ranma to land several dozen punishing blows to the now unprotected mutant.

A powerful wind blew debris into the redhead's eyes. Grabbing hold of Iceman's shirt, Ranma threw the youth into the air. With the force of her throw combined with the fierce winds she knew that Iceman would be in trouble. Waiting for Storm to cut the gale-force winds and redirect them in an attempt to cushion her teammate's flight the busty redhead ran up the side of the building and launched herself at the airborne weather witch. Even though she knew she'd be a few meters short the redhead knew that she'd put herself in better position to take the dark-skinned mutant out of the fight. Grabbing another handful of nuts she began to pelt the powerful mutant.

Only wall of webbing from Spider-man and Spiderwoman saved Storm from the barrage as both spider-powered heroes moved to shield her from the barrage.

Slightly frustrated, Ranma grabbed hold of the webbing and yanked on it, throwing the two heroes off balance even as she used the webbing to propel her towards the mutant. A powerful bolt of lightning hit her, singing her hair and burning her black silk outfit. Still, the numbing shock didn't deter her attack as she tackled Storm.

Even with her unexpected passenger Storm continued to levitate, shifting the air currents so that they could remain airborne.

Using that to her advantage Ranma wrapped her short legs around the woman's arms and waist before unleashing several punishing yet lightning quick punches to the woman's face until she felt the older woman go limp. Twisting ever so slightly, Ranma made sure that Storm took the brunt of the bad landing as plummeted towards the ground. A parting kick to the stomach made the landing all the worse for Storm as Ranma managed to reduce the pull of gravity on herself and minimizing the damage from the fall. Rolling, she further reduced the impact before she managed to roll into a crouching position.

Out of position as she was Ranma suddenly saw stars as something metallic collided with the side of her head. Rolling with the blow she managed to stay conscious. Shaking her head she instinctively dodged the arrows that came whistling at her. Grabbing another handful of nuts she expertly knocked down the three arrows that followed even as she jumped off the wall to engage Captain America. Ducking under the shield she caught the straps, using the symbol of America to defend against the second barrage of arrows. Charging ahead she used the shield to smash into the startled Hawkeye, bowling him over.

Only a blast from Ironman's hand kept Ranma from finishing off the marksman. Still, she had managed to disarm him.

This was getting messy.

"I didn't want to have to do this," she stated as she stood up to face Captain America. Casually rolling his shield to him she pulled out the Murasama.

"Where the hell did she keep that thing?" Ironman asked as he hovered in the air. "I couldn't detect anything on her other than a few nuts and bolts in her pocket."

Weapons really weren't her style, but outnumbered as she was by the super-powered beings she knew she had no other alternatives. Even the Mark of the Gods wouldn't be enough guarantee victory.

Waiting for Captain America to grasp his shield and nod in acknowledgement of the challenge, Ranma rushed her opponent. The two exchanged blows, testing each other's skills and range while the rest of the combatants circled around them. As the taller and older of the two fighters, Captain America took the initiative, throwing a powerful haymaker the close combat expert used his longer reach and the shield to his advantage.

Ducking under the attack Ranma lashed out with her foot, blocking the follow-up kick while also using it to propel her past his guard. A quick slash was blocked expertly with the red, white, and blue shield. Lashing out at his opponent's back Ranma landed a glancing blow to the Captain's ribs, knocking the older fighter off balance temporarily. A second kick to the Captain's ribs drew a grunt of pain from the taller fighter. Flipping to her feet Ranma waited for her opponent to regain his feet.

Adopting an unorthodox stance Ranma rushed in. Again the Murasama was met with the shield, as the overhead slash scrapped against the alien metal of the shield. Just as she expected the Captain countered with a quick knife-edged chop to her wrist, disarming her. Snaking her wrist around his, Ranma fell onto her back and kicked the Captain in the stomach, pushing off of him even as she once again took hold of his shield. Using the Captain's impromptu flight as a distraction Ranma threw the shield at Ironman, catching the flying warrior off guard and knocking him out of the sky. Grabbing the Murasama as she rolled to her feet, Ranma rushed the startled Ironman only to stop short as a familiar redhead moved to shield the superhero.

"Mary Jane!"

"Get out of here!"

As a martial artist Ranma was nearly almost always in control of his actions. Stopping just a few centimeters short of the redhead Ranma glared at Mary Jane.

"Ranma," she said, her voice trembling, "please, stop. Why are you fighting them?"

"It didn't start the fight with them," the busty redhead stated as she stared at the other redhead. "I'm here to kill the mutants. Don't get in my way."

Even without any powers and the desperate urge to flee, she forced herself to stand her ground. "I won't let you kill them," she stated. "Kitty's not a bad person; neither is Liz or the others."

Shaking her head, Ranma leapt over the teen. Using the Murasama to deflect Ironman's blast, the martial artist focused on her true targets – the mutants. Landing gracefully she grabbed a handful of dirt and ducked under a blast from the recovered Ironman as she made a b-line for Colossus. Slipping under his powerful overhand she threw the dirt into his eyes. Blinded, the mighty mutant slammed his fist into the ground, rupturing the gas-line buried underneath.

Unable to cut the metal-skinned mutant, Ranma instead used him as a stepping stone as she launched herself towards the still unconscious Shadowcat. Only Marvel Girl's mighty psychic shield kept Ranma from taking the mutant girl's life as the Murasama hit the invisible force-field. Landing in a crouch Ranma again was hit hard, by Captain America's shield, this time with the Captain still attached to it. Sandwiched between the metal shield and the psychic one, Ranma lost her hold on the Murasama.

A hard elbow-smash to the back of her head once again brought stars to her field of vision. Twisting around, Ranma answered with an elbow of his own that connected with the older fighter's temple. Though she freed herself from her predicament, Ranma was still dazed.

The smell of natural gas filled her nostrils as she blinked away the stars.

"Liz, no!" someone shouted.

Turning around, Ranma saw Firestar overhead as she shot a blast of flame at Ranma. Instinct propelled the redhead across the clearing and away from the fiery blast, but it wasn't self-preservation. Sweeping the stunned Mary Jane off her feet Ranma jumped just as the flames hit the leaking gas. Cradling Mary Jane in her arms, Ranma felt the intense heat scorching her back as the force of the explosion sent them flying. Rolling, Ranma made sure that she took the brunt of the blow. A bone jarring collision with the wall with the wall winning was the result as a Ranma and Mary Jane crumpled to the ground.

"Ironman, Iceman, put out the fire!" Captain America commanded the others even as he strapped on his shield and rushed towards the two entangled redheads.

"You alright?" the martial artist asked the other girl.

Nodding, Mary Jane looked up at Ranma even as the busty girl slowly let go of her. "Please, you don't have to do this – they're good people."

Wiping the blood from a shallow cut over her right eye, Ranma shook her head. "As a martial artist I have to protect the weak," she stated.

"Who's weak?!" Rogue asked as she grabbed hold of Ranma's head, placing her bare palms against Ranma's sweaty cheek.

Though she was being drained of her ki, Ranma somehow managed to lash out as she turned around, driving the mystical gem into Rogue's soft bosom. Two conflicting magics collided, causing a brief magical flare that sent the two fighters in opposite directions.

"I think it's over," Spidy stated as he bound Ranma in webbing.

Kitty nodded as she and Jean retrieved the fallen Rogue.

"We'll take her to Shield," Captain America stated as he sheathed the dark katana.

* * * * *

A/N

Hope you guys liked this chapter.

The holidays are the worst time to have a cold.

Dreamingfox


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Notes –

If I were fortunate enough to actually work for Marvel/Disney I might actually be making money off of this work. But I don't so I publish my work here. Of course I also don't own Ranma ½ either. This is simply a work of Fanfiction made for my personal enjoyment and for the enjoyment of those select few who seem to like my writing.

* * * * *

Carol Danvers looked at the assembled 'superheroes' before her and repressed a sigh. In the short time she'd worked with the superhero community she'd never seen them so ragged. Yes, there was the Ultimatum Wave six months ago, but the entire world had taken a beating then. This incident had fortunately been contained to several city blocks and the assembled heroes looked like they'd fought a war. Yes, they had won, but they had only faced a single individual – a single normal girl from all indications.

"She's not just a normal girl," Jean Grey, the resident telepath, stated. "No, I'm not looking into your mind, just your body posture and that look on your face is enough to tell everyone here what you're thinking."

"So what about her makes her so special?" the acting director of Shield demanded.

"Whoever she is she's had extensive psychic barriers set up," the redhead stated. "I couldn't sense her coming when we were looking for Liz, and I couldn't even read her mind when we were fighting her. The only thing I felt was another presence inside of her mind."

"She's being mind-controlled?" Hawkeye asked even as he held a bag of ice to his eye.

"No," Jean replied, shaking her head, "more like tweaked to make her resent mutants more than she normally would. But there's also another presence, something destructive and feral within her."

"Like she's possessed?" the still injured Spider-man quipped.

"More like a split personality that she reverts to in times of need," the telepath explained.

"And she didn't need that to kick us around?" Spiderwoman added.

"I think she keeps it in check because she can't control it," Storm suggested.

"Your friend, the redheaded reporter," the still armored superhero said as he turned to face the young genius.

"Mary Jane," Peter grumbled as he replaced the broken glass plate on his mask.

"Mary Jane," Tony repeated, "she seemed to know the girl. What did she call her?"

"Ranma," Rogue added as she eyed the broken pendant that once housed the Gem of Cryttorak. "Her name's Ranma and she's a martial artist, a great martial artist."

"I've worked with some good martial artists before, and none of them are anywhere near her league," Spider-man stated as he pulled his repaired mask on.

"You drained some of her skills and memories," Carol stated, "what else can you tell us about her?"

"She's traveled the world, and was in Tokyo when the Ultimatum Wave hit Japan," the young mutant explained. "Everything else is jumbled, like someone's been messing with it."

"So it's like in Harry Potter where Professor Slughorn altered his memories to make himself seem like the good guy, right?" Peter suggested.

"More like increasing the emotional intensity of the memory to make her more resentful and angry," Jean explained.

"That's why she wasn't really going all out against the Ultimates," Rogue stated. "Or why she stopped when Mary Jane stepped between her and Ironman."

"So some normal girl gets her memories altered," Shadowcat elaborated, "how the hell does that explain the tornado she hit us with?"

"Some martial arts technique that took advantage of the heat that the Human Torch and Firestar were throwing off," Rogue explained.

"I still don't think she's normal," Spider-man stated, holding firm to his belief that someone, anyone, who held their own and actually was kicking the ass of so many super-powered heroes had to have some sort of power.

"She might not be completely normal," Carol conceded, "but she's not super-powered like you. Still, she did manage to take out the Juggernaut, or at least knows who did it. I'm going to have the techs look at the sword and the tracking device she had on her. If I'm right that's the same one that was outfitted to the Juggernaut's helmet. Maybe the sword is magical or something."

"Which would explain why I didn't pick it up on my initial scan," Ironman added. "If you don't mind, I'd like to take a look at the girl."

* * * * *

"Ranma has been captured," Konatsu stated as the cross-dressing ninja bowed to the shadowy leaders of the Hand.

"So it seems," the foremost of the figures replied.

"It would seem that we put too much faith in his abilities," the second figure added.

"I've already had our agent in Hydra contacted," Konatsu quickly said, breaking the tension in the room.

"We have an agent in Hydra?" the third figure asked.

"Yes, as they also plot towards world domination I thought it best that we plant several agents inside of Hydra," the first speaker explained.

"One of the agents was made aware of the fight between Ranma and the Ultimates, the X-Men, and Spider-man," Konatsu stated. "They are going to move to acquire him, thus shifting the focus away from us and to Hydra."

Several of the shadowy figures nodded.

"Thus we pit Hydra against Shield once again," a fourth speaker nodded sagely.

"Can we still use Ranma?" the first speaker asked.

"It is possible," Konatsu stated. "The agent in Hydra suggests that they want to test him once they bring him back to their mobile base. Seeing how well he faired against the superheroes they want to see how their own subjects fair against him."

Again the figures in the shadows and darkness nodded.

"Keep us updated," the second figure ordered, "but for now, we move on to our other plans."

Konatsu bowed her shrouded head. Ranma had more uses than any of them even considered.

* * * * *

Rogue was not happy. Technically, no one who was involved in that fight with the odd martial artist known only as Ranma was happy. Spider-man had a mild concussion, broken mask, and broken nose – all very good reasons why he shouldn't be happy. Firestar was still confused and didn't know why the busty redhead had attacked her, and she'd lost some friends to the girl before as well. Bobby, Kitty, Storm and Jean had been beaten and battered, and exhausted in the fight.

Well, Colossus didn't seem to take it too badly, but he was a Russian. They just thought about things in different ways than normal people did.

Grumbling about the weird memories that she had picked up from the busty redhead and about her singed outfit (she loved that jacket) the young mutant just hoped that Bobby wouldn't try to sneak into her bed again. Not only would it now be considered statutory rape, but she clearly didn't have the same degree of control over her powers like she did following absorbing Gambit's power.

Slipping into the room that Acting-Director Danvers had assigned to her the young mutant locked her door. Stripping off the remains of her tattered outfit, Rogue turned on the shower, letting the water get nice and hot as she finished undressing. After a few minutes she threw the remains into the trash and grabbed a towel.

The feel of the usually scalding hot water felt rather tepid to Rogue; still, she was too tired and sore to think too much about it. More than likely someone else was showering; lord knows how much water they actually had on the stupid flying base.

Letting the water slowly soak into her hair and skin, Rogue reached for the shampoo and washed her long locks. Grabbing the body wash she started to scrub off the dirt and grit that she'd acquired in the heated battle. Running her hand over her chest she blinked. Since when did her breasts feel so hard… so muscular… so flat?

Opening her eyes, she looked down.

* * * * *

The powerful blast of emotion from Rogue nearly startled Jean as she entered her own room. The loud scream that accompanied it though was drowned out by the sound of several dozen explosions rocking Shield's Heli-carrier. Lights died, filling the corridors and rooms in darkness before the red emergency lights came back on.

Unable to focus on the plight of her teammate, Marvel girl quickly zipped up her top and rushed out into the halls, blasting several masked figures with an overwhelming psionic blast that would have rendered most people unconscious, but these attackers weren't normal, nor were they completely human. The cybernetic enhanced assailants paused momentarily as they fought to repel the telepathic assault. That moment was enough for Marvel Girl to send them flying into the attackers behind them, tripping them all up and creating a logjam in the corridor.

Creating a telekinetic barrier she shielded herself from the barrage of laser fire that the assailants sent her way, buying enough time for the Shield agents that arrived behind her and opened fire as she jumped back into her assigned room.

* * * * *

In the past six months since he'd joined Shield Benjamin Grim had little to do. Sure, he'd quickly completed basic training and Shield's version of boot camp, but it really wasn't that much of a surprise given his super-strength and endurance, he had knocked out the Hulk after all. Unfortunately his super-strength and rock hard skin didn't account for much as he had been stuck on Shield's Heli-carrier since completing his training as he'd done little more than become a test subject or the one testing various technology for the tech-geeks that all aspired to be the next Reed Richards or Tony Stark. Aside from the super-powered fights and traveling around the world (or between worlds or out of the world) it was pretty much like working for Sue or Reed.

Still, Ben did miss the action. Sure, he fought plenty; usually playing the role of the Hulk in various situations where Shield tried to stop a rampaging Hulk, but that wasn't the same as fighting beside other super-powered heroes.

But hearing the explosions as the unknown attackers breached the Heli-carrier and seeing the red alarm lights lighting up the dark confines of Shield's mobile carrier made Ben's rock hard heart pump.

Strapping on his Shield issued equipment Ben Grimm rushed out the door.

"Intruders in landing bay 7," blared the voice of the agent manning the com in the bridge.

Rushing down the corridors Ben was joined by other agents as they rushed to defend that breach.

"Intruders in Barracks 2," the com blared.

"Intruders advancing towards Holding Cell 77," another voice declared over the com system. "They're headed for the new detainee."

"Damn, that's right below us," Ben grumbled. Touching his headset he responded, "This is Ben Grimm. I've got seven agents with me, we're diverting to Holding Cell 77."

It didn't take long for the squad of eight to encounter resistance as the sounds of laser fire and screams of pain filled the corridor ahead of them. Though he knew that his thick, rocky skin could absorb the damage the Shield training had engrained in him the need to seek cover as he opened fire on the men in green spandex suits.

While it would have been easy for him to just plow through the hallway full of soldiers, he couldn't leave the others behind. Who knew what other surprises lay ahead of them, and simply rushing ahead blindly could put all of them in a bad spot.

* * * * *

Never a heavy sleeper, Ranma wasn't a light sleeper either; then again, his slumber wasn't self-induced as he'd had his energy drained while he was fighting against the mutants and the Ultimates, or what was left of the Ultimates. The feel of the cold steel around his wrists and against his back as he leaned against the side of the cell was all he needed to know. Of course it didn't matter that he was currently in his female form, which made sense given the fact that he had fought them in that body. Though weaker than his male body, it was strong enough to break free of the stupid shackles that they had used on him. Yes, they'd learn the folly of their ignorance.

And judging from the sound of the fighting outside, it was clear that they were too preoccupied to notice a busty redhead slipping out of the place.

Channeling ki to her arms and wrists the martial artist easily broke the shackles. Manifesting the ki into a golden orb, Ranma slammed it into the unfortified wall. They really were stupid. Several more blasts ripped the wall open enough for the petit redhead to crawl through and out of the cramped cell into the air vent.

* * * * *

The young man formerly known as Shannon Flash was full of anger and resentment. Having been given a girl's name combined with the last name of Flash had driven the young man virtually insane with anger. But ever since he'd joined up with Hydra (after having failed at convincing the judge to legally change his name, the same stupid judge who refused to change some lame chump's name because he'd lost a bet and was going to change his name to that of the winning Superbowl QB) he had left his old name behind. True, no one used their names in Hydra, at least not the grunts. But once he earned the rank of Captain he'd be able to pick a name for himself that truly reflected his persona and skills. Something much better than the name his mother had given him. Axle Rose, yeah. Sure, it was the name of his favorite artist, but hell, it was a good name. Better than Ozzie or Lenard at least.

And to get his dream name the young Hydra agent needed to return with the busty redhead that the intelligence department of Hydra were so interested in.

Perhaps they wanted her because she was a busty redhead. Ever since the Ultimatum Wave had nearly destroyed the world the ranks of Hydra had taken a hit. It also didn't help that they'd lost so many men during the failed raid of Stark Tower before the Wave, and that all of them had died when the Shield facility housing them had been destroyed during the Wave.

But they'd made up for their lack of numbers by stealing the abandoned technology in the now frozen wastelands of Latveria. Dr. Doom's strength enhancing suits made the average Hydra agent stronger, faster, and tougher than a normal human, and the cybernetic implants helped them resist telepathic attacks.

"Team 77 has reached the holding cells," the man formerly known as Shannon stated proudly. Though there was still heavy fighting behind his squad, he was confident that they would be able to hold off Shield's grunts. Hell, with the advanced weapons developed by Dr. Doom and improved by the Hydra techs they'd be able to take on the Ultimates.

Holstering his plasma rifle, the leader of the squad waited for the familiar hum from the power generator on his wrist to fully charge before he slammed it into the fortified titanium door. Several blows later and the door was completely destroyed, leaving the way into the detention cells completely unobstructed.

"Last corridor to the right, and make sure to stay away from the corridor in the middle on the left, any metal gets too close to that captive and we might have to deal with Dr. Octopus," the redheaded squad leader stated.

Rushing down the giant corridor the squad continued towards their goal as the fire fight intensified in the outer corridor.

"Three," he shouted, referring to his men, well, in this rare case a woman, by number rather than by name, "take out the door. Four, Six, Eight and Nine, cover the door. Everyone else keep an eye out for any other trouble."

"Sir," the lone female in the squad squawked.

"What is it Three?" the man formerly known as Shannon shot back.

"It's empty," the rather bony woman replied.

_Shit, there goes my promotion_, the squad leader thought as he eyed the gaping hole in the back of the holding cell.

* * * * *

___The few occasional glances that he stole from the narrow slits in the air vents told him all he needed to know about the current situation. People were fighting and dying, though the guys in the green suits looked to be winning as they tended to mow down the guys in the dark blue or grey outfits. His martial artist code demanded that he protect the weak, and clearly the guys in blue and grey were weak, well, when compared to him and the guys in green at least, but they were also armed and had greater numbers. Really, this was a battle between two groups that really had nothing to do with him… still; he couldn't help but feel a bit bad about everything going on, even if it wasn't his business. _

___Not wanting to get caught up in a fight that clearly had nothing to do with him, the busty redhead continued to make her way through the air duct. Fortunately no one bothered to shoot or even look up as they fought and the only ones who did were dead or dying. _

___* * * * *_

_"__What do you mean she's gone?!" the attack leader shouted over the com system._

___The redhead formerly known as Shannon Flash steeled himself as he looked at his commander's image. "See for yourself sir, she's already escaped. She probably used our attack as cover," the trembling man rationalized. "If she's as good as the Intel suggests she is then she wouldn't have stayed out long. And clearly Shield didn't have time to adequately build a cell around her abilities," she added, deflecting the blame towards their enemy. _

_"__What other prisoners are on board the Heli-carrier?" the still angry attack leader asked. _

_"__Dr. Octopus, Kraven the Hunter, and R.H.I.N.O."_

_"__Is R.H.I.N.O. in his suit?"_

_"__No sir, and the suit isn't here."_

_"__Damn, he's completely useless to us then. Free Kraven, we might be able to at least get some more advances from studying how he tampered with his own DNA. Once you've freed him I'll sound the call for a retreat. Make sure that you bring any Stark Tech that you find back."_

___* * * * *_

___Ranma knew that his impromptu escape was too good to be true as he approached the end of the air duct. __I knew I should have taken the other turn____, the pigtailed boy lamented. __At least I'm not as lost as Ryoga used to get____. _

___Seeing that there wasn't anyone fighting below him, the boy in a busty girl's body quickly removed the cover of the vent before lowering himself into the dark room. Dropping gracefully to the ground he immediately noticed the naked girl hanging from the wall. Though he was very familiar with the female form it was clear that the girl before him was significantly taller than his female form though shorter than his true form. _

_"__What'd you do to get thrown in here?" he asked as he considered his options for getting out of the room._

_"__Kill mutants," the girl snarled beneath the metal mask on her face. _

_"__Huh, I'm here for that too, though I they didn't actually catch me killing anyone yet," the redhead replied. _

___The girl snarled. _

___Walking over to the wall Ranma gripped the metal rod that kept the girl pinned to the wall. Pulling hard, he adjusted his position so that his feet were against the wall as he put the full force of his tiny body into breaking the shackle. _

___Ripping it off of the wall Ranma huffed. __Man, I wish I was in my real body____._

___With one arm now free the lean girl push the busty redhead away. Snarling, she extracted two vicious looking claws from her hand before reaching for her other arm and cutting herself free with one quick swipe. _

_"__You're a mutant!" Ranma exclaimed. __Why the hell didn't I think of just using the Murasama?_

_"__I hunt mutants," the girl corrected._

_"__You've got claws like that Wolverine guy."_

_"__They gave them to me so that I could hunt other mutants," the girl growled as she completely removed the other shackle from the arm that Ranma had freed. Reaching down she cut off the shackles/supports on her feet. _

_"__So you're not a mutant?"_

___The wild haired girl shook her head. "Clone."_

___Shrugging, Ranma pulled of the remains of his shirt and offered it to the girl. Yes, he'd seen plenty of girls naked before, that didn't mean that he'd allow them to be indecent even if they were in the dark. "So you know how to get out of here?"_

_"__The door."_

___Sighing, Ranma put his ear on the door to listen for any sign of the fighting around them. Standing up straight, he channeled ki into his hands before slamming them into the door, instantly blowing it off. _

_"__So, which way do we go?"_

___Rushing to the door the bottomless girl turned to her left. "This way."_

___* * * * * _

___This was a truly weird day, and for Spider-man, that was saying a lot. He'd fought several of his greatest opponents outside of the White House, been thrown out the window by the King Pin, had the rights to his alter-ego bought out by the King Pin, was hit on by a older woman who also happened to be a cat burglar, and then there had been the coalition against the King Pin. _

___The day had started out well enough with a pleasant date with Gwen. Unfortunately that was where the normal stuff ended as the return home had lead to the discovery that Bobby Drake, a.k.a. Iceman, was now going to be living with them (as if living with your teenage girlfriend who was once dead and then came back due to an illegal experiment with a bio-suit and genetic manipulation brought her back to life), and that both of his girlfriends (one of whom dated with Bobby). And then there was the really odd fight where all the remaining Ultimates, nearly all of the remaining X-men, himself, Johnny Storm, and Spiderwoman had essentially gotten their asses handed to them by the some redheaded girl. The entire "debriefing" by the acting director of Shield didn't help easy his feeling and concerns about the monster martial artist, nor did the fact that the Shield Heli-carrier happened to be attacked just as he was about to return home. _

_"__You know, you're the first female I've seen in these funny suits," he quipped as he dodged the lone female Hydra agent's powerful mace, "I guess you're the one that all had to take all the measurements."_

___A quick, vicious punch sent the woman flying into several of her companions. "Weird that you're using shields when you're fighting guys from Shield," he added as he grabbed hold of the closest green shield and yanked it away from the tall agent before him. With a twist of the hips and shoulders he sent the shield flying, bowling over several other agents over. _

_"__Hey, bowling for Hydra!" he exclaimed. "STRIKE!"_

___Leaping off the wall and onto the shield of another Hydra agent he kicked off hard, pushing the larger man back onto his peers even as he launched himself onto the ceiling to avoid more fire. Landing hard on top of the head of another Hydra agent he kicked the man hard in the head. _

___In the cramped confines of the tiny corridor Spider-man knew that he couldn't be completely effective given his inability to move around and with the amount of room for him to dodge limited. At least being in close quarters he limited the types of weapons that they used against him, though the damage to the corridor was starting to take a toll. _

___Kicking off of the back of another agent the young superhero clung to the wall just as the floor below gave way, sending the Hydra agents tumbling onto their companions on the floor below. _

_"__It's like you're rabbits," he joked as he jumped down on the assembled fighters, knocking two out with kicks to their head. _

___This day was long from over._

___* * * * *_

___The feel of a powerful breeze told him that he was near the outside. Glancing around the corner Ranma grinned as he spotted the large hole where several men in green outfits were standing. Clearly that was where some of them had gotten in. _

___Though he still didn't know their intentions Ranma quickly formulated a plan. After all, he was great at throwing plans together on the fly._

___Motioning for his companion to stay silent, Ranma stripped off the tattered remains of his outfit, he hid the Murasama behind his back; hopefully the darkness of the corridor would hide the weapon from the suited men's vision. _

___Stepping around the corner and into the light so that the green suited agents the redhead revealed herself to them even as she hoped to distract them. "Um, excuse me," he said, playing part of the helpless yet very sexy girl expertly. "I'm lost and I don't have any clothes."_

___It would have been funny if the men had fallen as the blood gushed out of their noses, but the fact that they were completely dumbstruck and willingly walked over to him and then stood there as the busty redhead suddenly rushed right past them and leapt out of the gaping hole in the wall was enough for Ranma. Yes, they had completely left their guard down. Had he been a killer he could have taken their heads right then and there. Lucky for them they weren't mutants and would only have to deal with slight concussions when they woke. _

___Glancing out of the gaping hole Ranma shrugged._

_"__Now what?" the girl asked. _

_"__What else," he replied, "we jump."_

___* * * * *_

___Slowly the tide of battle turned, though not necessarily for a good reason. Though the exhausted heroes slowly repelled the Hydra assault, they knew that the Shield forces were essentially getting abused by the assailants. _

_"__Carol," Tony said into his com as he bashed a shield welding Hydra agent with his own shield, "I've analyzed the tech that they've acquired, it looks like it's based off of Dr. Doom's Doombots."_

_"__Shit!" the acting director of Shield cursed. "I knew we should have scoured the frozen wastelands better."_

_"__You left Latria unattended?" Ironman exclaimed. _

_"__We were stretched thin right after the Ultimatum Wave hit and it took us a while to get agents there," Carol said, defending her decisions as acting director. _

_"__Madam Director!" Ben exclaimed, cutting off the current conversation. "This is Benjamin Grimm. I've lead a squad down to Holding Cell 77. It looks like they broke several villains."_

_"__Who's unaccounted for?"_

_"__Kraven and the new girl," the agent at the operations desk stated. "The girl from the Weapon X project got freed too."_

___* * * * *_

A/N

Unlike my other fics where I work with the formula that Ranma's curse turns him into a specific girl, Ranma's curse in this fic merely transforms him/her into a female version of his male self. I know that Rogue usually isn't seen as being able to absorb anything but powers/abilities from her victims, but in some ways the curse is an ability – the ability to transform when splashed with water.

I've decided to regardless of their physical sex at the time, I am going to refer to Ranma as 'he' and Rogue as 'she' because gender-wise, they still seem themselves as being the appropriate gender. Just like Konatsu, while being a male, considers herself female. Yes. You heard me. I'm playing the gender card. Others may consider using the appropriate pronoun depending on their body, but the characters will still see themselves as 'he' and 'she' respectively.

I previously misspelled Carol Danvers as Carol Devers, my bad.

Please Read and Review.

Dreamingfox


	5. Chapter 5

Author's Notes –

I find myself really enjoying this fic. I hope that everyone reading this is enjoying it too. That said, I'm not putting up a disclaimer anymore. I'm pretty sure that everyone who's read this far knows I don't own anything of significance.

No, Ranma didn't find X-23, though it did cross my mind.

* * * * *

"It appears that Ranma was able to escape while Hydra attacked Shield," Konatsu stated as she addressed the Hand's elders.

"Do they suspect anyone other than Hydra?" the fourth advisor asked.

"No," the cross-dressing ninja replied. "Hydra freed several other super-villains and stole some Stark Tech. It appears as though the attack might have just been coincidental though I would not want to presume to know what the Acting Director of Shield is thinking."

The second advisor smirked in the shadows. "Continue to monitor the situation," she ordered, waving Konatsu off.

Nodding, the young ninja vanished.

* * * * *

"You're sure you're not a mutant?" Ranma asked the raven haired girl as she levitated the pair down from the Heli-carrier.

"You sure you're a guy?" the girl replied.

"Touché," the busty redhead smirked. "So what's with the powers?"

"Someone experimented on me," the girl growled. "At least that's what I gathered from the minds of the people who were handling me. I was made to hunt mutants and to gain the abilities of the mutants I face, to mimic them without being one of them."

"So you were born with powers but they're not because of the X-gene," Ranma stated. "And your powers are essentially stolen… like Rogue's powers in a sense."

"Who's Rogue?"

"She's a mutant," Ranma grumbled.

"Why do you hate her so much?"

"Because she's a mutant," he replied. "A mutant nearly destroyed the world, and ended up killing over a billion people."

"That must be why they created me," the other girl stated.

"Who'd you take down?"

Landing gently, the raven haired girl shrugged her shoulders. "I didn't," the girl replied.

"She wouldn't know," a new voice explained.

Ranma blinked. That voice… it was once the bane of his existence.

Feeling small hands groping the breasts of his female form, well, his breasts, Ranma instinctively lashed out, missing the tiny figure as it scrambled away.

"Ranma my girl," the ancient master of Anything Goes Martial Arts smirked as he perched himself on a chimney so as to put himself at eye level with Ranma, "it's good to see you."

"Happosai?! I thought you were dead like everyone else." Ranma was torn between outrage and relief – outrage that the old lecher had groped him or relief that someone else he knew was alive. Looking at the relatively long cloak and the gold amulet that clasped around the tiny figure's neck Ranma felt a slightly different aura radiating from the founder of his style of martial arts. "How did you survive?"

Happosai smiled weakly as he looked at his former student. "In all my years I've learned a few tricks, not all of them martial arts based. That's why my style is called 'Anything Goes'. You've seen me use magic, martial arts, grenades, almost everything. Unfortunately that wasn't enough to save me when the wave hit Nerima. What did save me though was this," he explained, tugging on the glowing golden amulet. "The Eye of Agamotto, and the Cloak of Levitation saved me when they chose me to be the next and current Sorcerer Supreme."

Ranma eyed the old man skeptically.

"It's true, all of it," the old man stated. "With the earth's population decimated as it is and with humanity relying so heavily on technology there are few left who know of the ancient magic. As one of the most knowledgeable magic users left the Eye of Agamotto and the Cloak of Levitation instinctively sought me out."

Slumping back, Ranma brushed against the other girl.

"I had thought that you might be dead as well," Happosai stated. "But then I felt your aura flare when you destroyed the Gem of Cyttorak."

"The magical stone that powered up the Juggernaut? What about it?" the topless redhead asked.

"The ambient magic of your curse reacted with the magic in the Gem, destroying it and possibly endangering our world," the sagely martial arts master explained. "If it were anyone but you, you would have noticed a significant increase in our strength, even greater than that of the Super-strength Soba. But as I said, your body and subconscious mind tends to only use the necessary strength to get a job done."

Ranma blinked. "No way, I'd have noticed if I got stronger."

"You broke out of a fortified cell on a Shield Heli-carrier," the other girl said, adding credence to the old man's claims. "I'm not sure how fortified your cell was, but mine was laced with vibranium. Ripping apart something enhanced and fortified by vibranium is impossible for even some of the strongest super-powered beings. Only the Hulk and Thor have such strength, or so I've been told."

"But you broke out after I ripped the first one off," Ranma countered.

"I have Adamantium claws that can cut through even vibranium," the girl stated as she moved to cover her meager (when compared to Ranma's female form they were meager) assets with his shirt.

"Um, what do I call you anyways?" the redhead asked.

"I… I don't know," the girl replied. "They didn't give me a name, they just called me 'Mimic'."

"Ranma, the girl is like you," Happosai stated.

"What, made to hunt mutants?" the redhead asked.

"Yes, but the difference between the two of you is that your hatred is false," Happosai elaborated.

"What the hell are you talking about?!" Ranma shouted as he stood up.

"Do you remember how much you used to hate me back in Nerima?" the old man asked. "How you wished that I would just go away and leave you alone? Yet when push came to shove you couldn't get rid of me when you had the chance. The same was true of Ryoga, Mousse and even Kuno. Yes, you'd beat them, savagely even, but you never set out just to hurt them or even to kill them."

Ranma clutched his head. "But… martial artists must protect the weak…"

"My boy," Happosai sighed, "it's a martial artist's duty is to fight off monsters or the supernatural that prey on the weak, and not all monsters or supernatural things are bad or evil, just like not all humans are good."

While Ranma was often seen as nothing more than a simple jock, the pigtailed boy turned girl was far from stupid. Long had he simply accepted his father's skewed, and often irrational code of honor and conduct without every questioning it, and finally pressed to defend that illogical code as well as handling the slight alterations in his very nature and demeanor was pushing his already warped brain.

Spotting an opening Happosai rushed in, stabbing Ranma with a shard from the Gem of Cyttorak.

"Damn," the tiny man grumbled as the busty redhead fell on top of him. "I'd normally love being pinned down like this," he lamented. "Would you be so kind as to help take him home?"

"What did you do to him?" the girl asked as she watched the current Sorcerer Supreme extract himself from underneath the redhead.

"I'm no telepath," the old man mumbled, "so I did the only thing I could, I cast a spell to remove any telepathic signals that were messing with his mind and memories. It's not perfect, but it was better than the alternative. It's not a cure for what happened to him, but it should slowly unravel what's been done to him."

"So, would you be so kind as to take him home?"

"Why do you keep calling her 'him'?"

"When you get 'her' home splash 'her' with some hot water," the old man smirked.

"What about you? Where are you going?"

"Tying up some loose ends," the Sorcerer Supreme said as he vanished into the night.

Mimic blinked. "Where the hell does she live anyways?"

* * * * *

"Rogue?" Marvel girl asked as she looked at the nearly naked man standing before her. "What happened to you?"

"Is it me, or was Rogue a girl the last time we saw her?" Spider-man asked rhetorically. Instinctively he barely dodged as Spiderwoman took a swipe at him to shut him up.

"Ah, I don't know," Marion/Ranma replied with a mix of a Southern accent combined with a Japanese/English accent. "I think that something happened when that girl destroyed the Gem of Cyttorak. There must have been a curse on it for anyone who destroyed it."

"What about the Japanese accent?" Peter added.

"Obviously that's from when she absorbed the girl's abilities," Jessica rationalized. "She's probably Japanese."

"I've never seen a Japanese girl with bright red hair," Spider-man countered. "Irish yes, but not Japanese. Though there were a few girls with pink hair… and purple… I'll shut up now," he added as he felt the women and man glare at him.

"If only Dr. Strange were around, we could refer to his expertise," Ironman stated. "Do we know who the current Sorcerer Supreme is?"

As Acting Director Carol should have known, but she didn't. "There aren't that many magic users that we know of and the few we do know of are dead or too low level to know. But they do confirm that someone has taken up the mantle."

"And the cloak," Spider-man interjected. "Okay, okay, I'll shut up again."

"It's probably some backwoods shaman or mystic," Ironman added.

"Hey, Dr. Strange wasn't some backwoods mystic," Peter protested.

"He was an exception," Tony replied. "His family was brought up around magic and mysticism; most people in industrialized nations have given up on magic. Only those with money held onto magic, and there are few of those around now."

"So what do we do about me?!" Rogue shouted as she drew everyone's attention back to her plight.

"You've still got your super strength and other powers, right?" Carol asked.

"If you mean I've still got the Juggernaut's strength and near invulnerability, yeah," the boy with white highlights answered. "But for now I don't drain people when I touch them."

"For now you'll just have to deal with it," Carol stated coolly. "We're short-handed as it is and I need everyone who's available to help find the girl as well as the others that Hydra busted out."

* * * * *

Mary Jane couldn't help but feel more than just a bit relieved that she didn't live with Aunt May and the others. True, she did feel like she was left out of the loop at times, but her inquisitive mind and nature rarely allowed her to stay out of the loop for long. It was that same nature that had put her in what others considered as harm's way when she'd stepped between the mysterious redhead and Tony Stark during the fight. It probably had saved the super-hero's life, and it had confirmed several of the blogs that the girl in Japan had posted.

Brushing off Aunt May's scathing lecture about putting her life on the line when she didn't have to and leaving such dangerous jobs to the real heroes had been a bit trite, but considering that three of the four teens living with the woman were super-powered beings she did have a point. Still, MJ just couldn't let the others fight someone who was rumored to be able to conjure tornados casually or had leveled an entire mountain range.

Rushing back to her own house the energetic redhead quickly hopped online again, thankful that the fight hadn't knocked out her internet connection or power as she quickly searched for the new transfer student. With the help of a hacker friend she managed to acquire Ranma's address from the school database, and all it had cost her was a revealing picture of herself in a bikini (with her face blurred out of course) emailed to the hacker (computer geeks really did spend all their time online searching for porn).

Again the internet helped her search as she map-quested Ranma's address and plotted a way to make sure that it had in fact been the Japanese student turned into a girl. Having been captured he probably wouldn't object to her breaking into his apartment to find out more about why he was attacking the remaining X-men and Ultimates.

* * * * *

"I'm not sure that she went with Hydra," Ben stated as he looked at the battered remains of the holding cell.

"What do you mean Agent Grimm?" the squad commander asked. Though the busty, bald woman was technically his superior Ben was sure that she hadn't seen nearly a fraction of the action that he'd seen. Then again, she was from Counter-Intelligence.

"Well, if they were trying to break her out, why is there a hole over here?" he pointed out. "Wouldn't it make more sense to just blow the door and go? Why rush into the vents?"

"Because that's the fastest way between Holding Cell 77 and Holding Cell 85," Agent Mason stated. "Clearly she was in position to get the detainee in Holding Cell 85 without drawing attention to her. The fighting would provide her with the perfect cover to get to Holding Cell 85 as no one would have spotted her. Taking the hallways and corridors she would have been spotted on the security cameras as well as run into some fighting along the way."

Several other agents nodded in agreement.

"Is there any footage from outside of the Holding Cell 77?" Ben asked.

"No, the feed from the cameras was taken out in that section," Agent Mason explained. "It's no longer your concern though Agent Grimm; Marvel Girl, Rogue, and Storm have been assigned to this case."

Nodding, Ben couldn't help but wonder if perhaps the three X-men would need some assistance. True, he hadn't been the person responsible for the defense of the two holding cells, but he had been in position to stop the Hydra assault squad that had gotten to the Holding Cells.

"Agent Grimm," Agent Mason called out. "You've been assigned with recapturing Kraven the Hunter."

Ben blinked. So they did think that the two prisoners weren't related despite supposedly being freed by the same assault.

"Sir, yes, sir," he said with a snappy salute. Yes, for this he'd need to hit up the runt Parker. Kraven was one of his old enemies after all.

* * * * *

"I believe that they're starting to doubt me," Konatsu stated as she stood in the shadows. "They've probably sent several hunters after me already."

"They won't find you," the tiny figure stated. "Make sure that you erase the blog and keep the girl safe."

"I will," the cross-dressing ninja.

"The ward I put up should keep you safe for the night," the sorcerer stated. "You know what the water does, and what the kettle will do. Once used the kettle will return to my vault."

Konatsu nodded.

"You'll finally have the body you were meant to have," the smaller figure stated. "It might take some time to get adjusted to it, but you should be alright. Once you're ready put the seal on the wall. It will teleport you to a random place far enough away from here that the Hand won't be able to find you."

"Thank you Master Happosai," Konatsu said with a solemn bow. "You've helped free me from the Hand and given me the body I've so longed for. How can I ever repay you?"

A lecherous grin filled Happosai's tiny face. "Oh, I'm sure I'll think of something," he said with a smirk.

* * * * *

Having been raised in a lab with no notion of socially accepted behavior or appearance, the girl known only as Mimic thought nothing of her state of dress nor that her companion was in. Using her powers, Mimic followed through with the old magician's request of bringing Ranma home by lifting him/her up telepathically and also reading his/her surface memories to find just where the redhead lived.

Along the way she managed to pick up the notion of proper dress and apparel as she inadvertently read the thoughts of the people that they came close to. Glad to have gone unnoticed, Mimic was slowly becoming more self-conscious about the tattered shirt that she was now wearing.

Having never seen anything beyond the confines of the lab or the cell, the inexperienced girl fought the desire to simply explore the world around her. If not for the debt she owed to Ranma for freeing her Mimic would have just wandered around, but feeling the need to help the defenseless redhead she continued with her task.

Slipping into the brownstone unnoticed, Mimic wondered just how long Ranma was going to stay out due to the magical spell cast on her/him. Having picked up enough of common decorum from the minds of those she passed as well as the minds of her jailors, Mimic stripped off the tattered clothes from herself and Ranma, literally ripping them to shreds. Turning on the water she decided against using her still unstable telepathy to support the busty redhead. Carrying Ranma into the shower, she didn't even bother to close the bathroom door or the shower curtains.

* * * * *

Walking into the nearly isolated brownstone, Mary Jane cautiously made her way towards Ranma's tiny apartment. Seeing that the door to his apartment was open she whispered, "Ranma?" before entering. Had he been in that much of a rush to attack the others that he hadn't bothered to lock up?

The sound of running water greeted her as she crept into his apartment. Curious, she made her way towards the bathroom. The sound of someone squeaking caught her attention as she cautiously grabbed the lamp and held it like a club. Having endured plenty of dangerous situations, Mary Jane knew better than to go in unarmed.

* * * * *

The feel of hot water and the sudden transformation back into his true form was enough to wake Ranma from his magically induced slumber. Coming to Ranma realized that he wasn't alone, and that he was currently standing.

For Mimic, the fact that the short redhead had become taller than her and was now in fact male did surprise her. Despite her super strength the startled girl stumbled as tried to manage the larger form she was holding up.

Instinctively Ranma pulled Mimic to him as the pair fell to the floor. Falling onto his back so that the raven haired girl was on top of him Ranma briefly caught the sight of something red in the doorway to the bathroom before feeling the cold, hard tile floor beneath him.

Blinking as he tried to regain his senses Ranma barely caught the sight of Mary Jane running out of his apartment and heard the door being slammed shut.

* * * * *

"So it appears that Konatsu has betrayed us," the shadowy figure stated as he eyed his fellow elders and advisors.

"So it seems," another elder added. "Regardless, Ranma has served us well. Even if Shield or Hydra captures him, the boy will not give them any information about us."

"Are we just letting them get away?" the first figure asked.

"No, but for now we do not take any direct action against them," a third figure advised.

"We move on with our next plan," the second figure explained.

"Project Valkyrie is complete," another shadow figure, this one distinctly female, added.

"Deploy Valkyrie to finish the task that Ranma failed to do," the first figure ordered.

* * * * *

"We failed to obtain the girl," the agent formerly known as Shannon Flash stated. "But we did acquire some Stark Technology and Kraven the Hunter. And the field test of our new technology proved our superiority over Shield's as well.

"Not a complete failure than," the Hydra commander stated. "Kraven should prove to be an excellent guide for our prototype as well as the necessary back up for her should she encounter any problems. Once he's been reprogrammed send Kraven and the prototype after the girl."

* * * * *

Having never met anyone who was not only nice to her but didn't think of her as only a weapon or tool, Mimic couldn't help but feel a bit attached to the gender cursed boy known as Ranma. Though she'd picked up bits and pieces about modesty, the artificially created super-human thought little of being naked around the gender cursed boy. It didn't help that he himself did not seem to think much of his own state of dress while he was a girl around her, or the fact that he'd seen more women than he cared to talk about, not to mention that he was much more stacked as a girl than she was. Add to the fact that she really didn't feel comfortable in any of Ranma's much too baggy clothes nor had any of her own and Mimic simply strutted around the tiny apartment naked as the day she was created.

Having seen more women/girls naked than he cared to admit, Ranma simply let Mimic do her own thing, after all, it wasn't like she was trying to seduce him or anything.

"Um," he said as he looked away from the raven haired girl, "I think we need to call you something other than Mimic."

"Hmm?" the slender girl asked with a mouth full of ramen.

"You do know that you're supposed to put some hot water in that, right?" he asked as he diverted his gaze so that he wasn't looking at the naked girl but rather at the food in her hands. "Anyways, I was saying, we need to call you something other than 'Mimic'."

"Oh," she mumbled as she sat on Ranma's futon.

"Rei?"

The raven haired girl shook her head.

"Sora?"

She blinked then shook her head.

Picking out various girl names Ranma listed them off, each one shot down by the girl as she wolfed down more of his precious ramen.

* * * * *

A/N

A short chapter. Hopefully you all enjoy it.

Dreamingfox


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Notes –

Hmmm… I'm really enjoying writing this fic. Thanks to everyone who's reviewed the fic thus far. I'm glad you all are enjoying it.

Yes, my head is filled with many odd and eccentric ideas, so expect a lot of the unexpected in this fic.

Enjoy.

* * * * *

The early morning mist slowly woke Ranma's groggy mind, helping him become more alert and aware of his surroundings. While Ranma was rarely ever one for waking up early, his recent travels had thrown of his bodily clock and sleep schedule. Not to mention that he'd spend so much time sleeping off a flew blows to the head and being drained of his ki energy as well as whatever it was that Happosai had done to him had put him out for much longer than he cared to think about. Oh, and then there was the fact that Miya had crawled into bed with him, completely naked, and had tried to cuddle up to him with her super-strength…. It was a good thing he slept on a futon mattress and not what passed for a bed as he could easily roll out of bed rather than fall out of it.

Stiff and sore, Ranma worked out the kinks in his aching muscles and joints with a kata that took him the entire length and span of the brownstone's enclosed yard. The rigorous exercise also allowed him to think and process things, helping him to slowly process and think things through.

* * * * *

The alien face that stared at her in the mirror had maintained some of her facial features but was still unknown to her. Not only were her features more sharp and defined, but they just had a different feel to them. Her long hair still retained the long white bangs and the deep brown, wavy locks that she favored. But the biggest changes were south of her face. The first was her throat and the lack of an Adam's apple, and then down to her chest where her D-cups were completely gone. But it was the sudden addition of her 'dangling bits' between her legs that irked her the most.

And there was also the clothes…

Circumventing the issue by going commando, Rogue shuddered as she looked at her reflection and the tailor made outfit that Shield had supplied her. Pulling on her jacket the young mutant hoped that Shield would find the new Sorcerer Supreme so that s/he could find cure her.

"Rogue?" Jean's voice called out over the com system. "We've got a lead on the new Sorcerer Supreme," the telepath stated.

"I'll be right there," the physically powerful mutant stated as she slammed her fist into her palm. This was what she wanted. Not only could the new sorcerer help cure her, he would also be able to lead them to the mysterious girl who's powers were apparently magic based.

It was weird, all of it was weird. Having never worn a bra before (under wires gave Magneto an edge that she just didn't want to give him) Rogue had to deal with her breasts, well, jiggling and bouncing as she walked. But without breasts she could walk taller and straighter without having to strain her back. The skin tight outfits that they wore in her line of work did provide a lot of support in her old form, but now that she was in a guy's body, well, she definitely had a new respect for the late Cyclops and understood why Logan was so irritable whenever he was forced to wear the team uniform. No wonder Spider-man was always taking verbal jabs at his enemies and was willing to trade punches with his enemies, compared to what his outfit was doing to him as well as his physical endurance the punches were probably nothing compared to the discomfort of wearing the suit.

Grumbling, Rogue marched down to Shield's version of Cerebro, designated Cerebra. While lacking the range of the original Cerebro, Cerebra had a feature that its predecessor lacked – the ability to find super-powered beings by detecting power signatures when an individual used their powers rather than searching for an active X-gene.

"Ah! Get him off of me!" the somewhat familiar voice of the Acting Director of Shield exclaimed.

"AHH!" Jean cried out, her scream penetrating the thick, supposedly sound-proof walls of the room that housed Cerebra.

"You horrible fend!" Storm shouted.

"No, don't use your powers in here Storm!"

"Just hold him still, I won't miss!"

Rushing down the corridor Rogue slammed her hand onto the sturdy control panel for Cerebra's room. The sight of the three admittedly flustered females and the tiny... man?- clinging to Storm's ample bosom despite the telepathic restraints that Marvel Girl was using to try and restrain him made Rogue blush.

"Um, Ah," the gender cursed mutant stammered. "Ah don't know what's going on, but it looks like…"

"I am not pushing this… lecher into Storm's breasts!" the fiery redhead proclaimed. "I am in fact trying to hold him back."

"Woo hoo!" the tiny figure exclaimed as he slipped out of Jean's restraints and made a dash for the busty blond. "Boobies! And no one's wearing a bra! The one thing I love about you Americans is that your average cup size is much larger than what normal Japanese girls have!"

Despite the fact that a missed shot would damage a multi-million dollar machine, Carol pulled her gun out in a futile attempt to fend off the little pervert.

Slipping under her guard Happosai groped her before quickly retreating.

"Who are you and what the hell are you doing here?" Carol demanded as she trained her gun on Happosai.

"Oh put that thing away," he insisted as he pulled the gun out of some hidden stash. Checking to see that the safety was on he tossed it back to the blond. The fact that he had stolen her gun and substituted it for a water gun surprised the three super-heroes and the Acting Director. "The only person that that gun will work on is her, or him…"

Everyone turned to Rogue, then back at the tiny figure.

"You're the new Sorcerer Supreme?" Jean asked, clearly skeptical that the pervert had somehow attained such a respected position and title.

"You could say that," he smirked. "I'm going to love working with you."

The perverted glint in his eyes sent chills down the women's backs (even Rogue who was in a man's body trembled at the prospect of what a magical pervert could do).

"The name's Happosai," he said, extending his hand. Seeing that no one was willing to accept his offered hand he sighed. "So lovely, yet so cold," he grumbled, feinting tears in an attempt to win the women over.

"What are you doing here?" Carol asked again as she put her gun back into its holster while holding onto the water gun.

"You were looking for me, right?" he answered as he looked at the lovely redhead. "And you're looking for a busty little redhead too, right?"

The four women exchanged a quick, knowing look between themselves.

"Well, I decided to come say that while he did attack you, he was not completely in himself," the ancient master stated.

"'Him'?" Rogue asked.

"He, like you, is gender cursed," the sorcerer explained. "Cold water turns him into a girl, and hot water turns him back into a boy. If you don't mind," he turned to the Acting Director "it's full of cold water. Regular tap water."

Feeling the need to shoot something, Carol quickly sprayed Rogue with the water gun, instantly triggering the transformation and returning Rogue to her natural form/body.

"That's cold!" the young mutant exclaimed. Hearing her own, high pitched voice Rogue smiled as she wiped the water away from her eyes. Only the feel of two tiny hands groping her exposed breasts (the outfit she'd worn as a guy was definitely not suited for her as a woman) killed the joy of having her original body back.

"Rogue…" Storm managed to mutter through her fat lip (despite being much more powerful Storm wasn't as durable as Rogue and the beating she'd taken from the redhead the previous evening/night still showed), "he's actually touching you."

"Get off me you little freak!" an enraged Rogue exclaimed as she tried to pry the magic user from her breasts.

"You're no fun," a dejected Happosai stated as he deftly avoided her strikes. Pulling away he held up the glowing fragment he'd extracted from her. "I wasn't actually touching you, just pulling this out of you. I had to find just where it buried itself inside of you."

"What is it?" the blond asked as she eyed the tiny fragment.

"It's a shard of the Gem of Cryttorak," the mystic explained. "A powerful demon once tried to invade this realm, but the Sorcerer Supreme at the time managed to stop him. Still, the demon, Cryttorak, managed to create the Gem of Cryttorak. The magical item imbues the possessor with great strength and makes them virtually unstoppable."

"But Cain's dead," Rogue stated.

"Yes, because the person who killed him had the Murasama and also happened to contain some of the magic of the Sorcerer Supreme who had stopped Cryttorak, a mad magician from ancient China known only as Jusenkyo. There's actually a hidden valley named after her."

"Jusenkyo… Why does that sound familiar?" Rogue asked.

"You've gained some of Ranma's memories, but because of the magical backlash the memories were blocked." Standing tall, the tiny figure looked down at the wet girl. "Then again, it might be because his own memories were tampered with by a telepath."

Marvel Girl nodded, "It did seem like his memories were adjusted or tweaked."

"But who is capable of doing that?" Carol asked.

"Just because you have the most powerful telepath in the world doesn't mean that you have the only telepath," Happosai declared sagely. "Asking the boy who messed with him would be pointless as he himself doesn't know who they are or what they did to him. Even I don't know for sure who they are, only that they dabble with the mystic arts."

"But we should be able to find him," Carol stated. She just couldn't bring herself to trust the little man, especially after he had groped her.

"Good luck," Happosai smirked as he began to fade out of existence. "He's not a superhero, he's a martial artist."

The women watched as the tiny figure vanished.

"Jean, what did you get out of Spider-man's ex?"

"I didn't think that there was much at first, but it seems that our little guest confirmed her suspicions," the redhead replied. "She happened to find a Japanese student's blog about her time in Nerima, where our martial artist is from. Magical stuff like that is beyond anything we're used to dealing with."

"So what do we do about the martial artist?" Storm asked as she unconsciously brushed her bruised face.

"I'll have Cap check him out. It seems that of all of you he seemed to respect Captain America the most," Acting Director Danvers said, stating the obvious.

"Can Ah at least change first?" Rogue asked as she brushed the wet hair away from her eyes.

* * * * *

After only a week at his new school, Ranma had to admit, he really did hate school. At least in Japan High School was optional, but here it was supposed to be required. No wonder the kids here were so rowdy and had such little regard for their teachers.

Never one to drag his feet, Ranma took his seat next to Kitty. Though the mutant appeared a bit stiff, she didn't seem to be injured. That was good. Though he felt guilty about killing the other mutants, Ranma really couldn't bring himself to apologize for himself as he really wasn't, well, himself when that had occurred. He'd make it up to the dead by taking it out on whoever had manipulated him, but not until then. Now it would just be wasted breath and create unnecessary tension. Besides, he'd pummeled Ryoga, Mousse, and the others plenty of times and never needed to apologize for it.

"What'd you do?" Kitty suddenly said, breaking him out of his thoughts.

"Huh?"

"What'd you do to Mary Jane?" the brunette asked again. "You guys seemed to be hitting it off over the weekend and suddenly she's all pissed at you."

"Huh?" the clueless boy replied as he glanced at the redhead, seeing her quickly turn away from him.

"God, you boys are so clueless."

The morning bell saved him from further inquiries, not that Ranma really knew what was going on with him and the redhead. Never one to really think about his relationships, he simply sat in his desk and let the morning fly by.

"What the hell did you do to MJ?" Gwen asked him as she and Peter sat across from him in Art class.

Ranma blinked. "You know, I really don't know. Why?"

"Well, she's been staring daggers at you all morning," the blond stated.

The pigtailed boy shrugged.

"What happened last night?" Peter asked. Though he really didn't want to talk about what happened to him last night, the young superhero knew that something had happened the previous evening that had obviously changed the way MJ and Ranma, well, the way MJ was acting towards Ranma at least.

"What happened to you last night?" Ranma repeated as he indicated the shiner that Peter had picked up. Yes, he knew what had happened, but he wouldn't own up to being the one that had punched the lights out of Spider-man, especially not when everyone loved Spider-man.

"He was playing around and tripped," Gwen hastily answered.

"You sure about that?" the pigtailed boy asked as he looked at Gwen's hands. "Not spousal abuse or anything?"

"No! I'd never hurt Peter!"

"Maybe he likes getting hurt," Kong added as he inserted himself into the conversation. "I never knew you liked it rough Pete, but that does explain a lot."

The young superhero blushed despite his best efforts.

"Hey, did you hear?" the large boy added, quickly shifting the direction of the conversation. "Mr. Songtag's homeroom got a new transfer student. She's from Japan just like you."

Ranma shrugged.

"There were lots of people from Japan who survived the tsunami and moved to the States," Mary Jane added as she eyed her food. Only Ranma seemed to miss the distinct chill in her tone.

"I heard she's a real hottie," the towering Kong stated, "not that she's got anything on you Kitty," he added so as not to offend the brunette.

"So what'd Ranma do to piss you off so much," the brunette asked even though she wasn't on the best of terms with the redhead.

"This wouldn't have anything to do with you sneaking into my apartment and finding me in the shower, would it?" the pigtailed martial artist asked as he tried to recall the previous evening.

The slight blush on Mary Jane's face told everyone the answer.

"Oh, so it's because Asian guys are, you know, down there," Kong joked, only to have a hot French fry thrown at him.

"Who the hell was that girl in the shower with you?!" the redhead hissed.

"You were in the shower with a girl?!" Peter and Kong exclaimed, drawing the attention of everyone sitting around the group.

"It's nothing," Ranma replied with a shrug. "Just trying to conserve water."

Everyone around him blinked. "Coming from an island nation that doesn't have a lot of water we tend to shower and bath together," he stated. Though technically true, his specific case was a lie. Then again, they didn't need to know that. "Besides, Miya's not that much to look at. I've seen better."

The other boys fell out of their seats, a considerable feat considering that they were sitting on a bench.

"I mean, Mary Jane's got a better figure, but she's not as athletic as Miya," the pigtailed boy explained, digging himself ever deeper with his foot-in-mouth syndrome. "Kitty's cuter, but she's kind of sulky and her emotional roller coaster is more than I care to deal with. Gwen's more fun and outgoing, but Miya's adventurous."

"So do you like her or not?" Kong asked as he stood up and looked down at the smaller boy.

"She's okay I guess," the martial artist shrugged.

"Where's she go to school?" Peter asked as he steadied himself against the table.

Again Ranma shrugged, he really didn't want to go through the whole song and dance. Especially since it was all a based on the fact that he took her from the Shield Heli-carrier. That would be one lie that he couldn't cover up without a good cover story, one that he'd have to go over with Miya. This would be harder than fooling Ryoga, much harder.

* * * * *

In his three hundred plus years of life Happosai had learned more than a few tricks. While most were martial arts related, some were magical in nature. Having faced a number of minor demons the ancient master knew that he really couldn't hold back a major demonic invasion, not like his predecessors at least. No, his magical and arcane knowledge was very limited, but given the situation he was the best option.

While much of the coastal cities had been devastated by tsunamis and some of the inland countries and cities had been leveled by earthquakes, this little valley had endured, in part because of the magical energies that protected it as well as the people who had resided in and around the valley that had minimized the damage.

"This job is much more than I can handle," he grumbled. "If I'm really going to do this I need all the help I can get."

The young man before him simply held his arms across his chest.

"I'm willing to change your name to whatever you want it to be," the tiny figure stated as he slowly levitated down to the ground. "But in exchange I need your assistance."

The young man smirked as though he'd won a major victory. Then again, considering all he'd tried to do to get the old man to change his name before had been pretty extreme, and violent. "Fine."

Happosai smiled. He knew that the boy would do anything to have his name changed, even fight demons and what not. "First, I need another assistant," he stated. This would be a long, long night with much to do still.

* * * * *

Miya was bored. Having spent much of her life locked up, the young mutant hunter was itching to get out and explore the world. But something was holding her back. Something was keeping her in New York. True, the grand city has bustling with activity, but she just couldn't feel completely comfortable around so many people, not with her mind subconsciously reaching out and scanning everyone within her line of sight and filling her mind with their surface thoughts and emotions. It had been one thing when she'd had the task of bringing Ranma home at night when there were fewer people around and she could focus on a task, but just wandering around was so much harder.

Somehow she'd gotten lost after just a few blocks as she allowed other people's thoughts to guide her down some side street and into a random clothing store. Emerging from the store with clothes that actually fit her (though she was heavily influenced by the sales women) she returned to the streets, carrying her new burden all the while feeling the need to find something good to eat. Having had her fill of instant ramen she simply sniffed the air and followed the scent of the cooking food to a street vender and ordered some food.

It didn't bother her that she was being followed. Several minds were following her hoping for some food, and with Ranma's seemingly endless supply of money (the large stipend he'd been given to establish himself in America by the Hand) Miya thought nothing of buying several more 'hot dogs' and setting the bag down on a step so that her followers could at least get some food. A half block later though a new set of minds pursued her, though this group wasn't looking for just food. No, these predatory followers wanted something else, and their sometimes graphic thoughts were vivid with violence and sexual desire. Reading deeper into their minds she saw a brief history of their crimes.

Leading the group down a vacant street she waited for them to make their move.

"Hey honey," the foremost of the group, a tall punk that had dubbed himself 'Spike' said as he approached her, "looks like you're lost."

"If you want," one of the punks behind Spike said with a leer, "we can show you back to your place, or maybe to ours."

Setting her bag of clothes down on the curb, Miya removed her denim jacket, revealing the tight v-neck T-shirt that clung to her lithe body. The sounds of several appreciative whistles and hoots from the other members of the gang greeted her as she carefully placed her new jacket on top of her bag. She had just bought the only jacket that fit her perfectly; there really wasn't a point in her having to replace it so soon after all.

Sauntering over to Spike she smiled a predatory smile.

"Looks like she's chosen the easy way boys!" Spike exclaimed as he turned to look at the gang behind him.

The vicious knee to the groin quickly and efficiently told them otherwise as Miya doubled the tall boy over. Grabbing hold of his spiky hair she slammed his head into the ground, heedless of her super strength.

Despite her superhuman reflexes and strength, Miya was at a disadvantage. Her years of being restrained to the wall had made her powerful muscles weak, slowing her reflexes and reducing the power of her blows, though it was more than enough to deal with this gang of punks. Reading their thoughts she narrowly avoided the punch that the closest punk threw at her. A weak telekinetic shield tripped up another assailant, allowing her to kick him in the temple.

Having spent so much of her time with Ranma she'd learned to read his moves, unfortunately her body wasn't used to the strange movements and lacked the muscle memory that the pigtailed boy's body possessed. A powerful front kick to the next punk's face (a staple in Ranma's arsenal of moves) resulted in her pulling her groin as she was unused to such a movement. The flare of pain caused her to stumble even as she sent her attacker flying.

Realizing her predicament Miya knew she had no other options as the next group of assailants rushed her.

The powerful blast of icy energy coated the dozen or so punks with a thick layer of ice. Breathing in to scream, they found their lungs suddenly full of icy cold air which immediately crystallized the moisture saturated air in their lungs, filling them with ice. Doubling over as they struggled for air as their lungs were shredded from the inside by the sharp icy crystals none of the boys could even manage to scream.

Seeing that the punks were dealt with, Miya used her telepathic powers to levitate so as to appear as though she were walking away, covering up for her pulled groin. Yes, she'd definitely have to start practicing with Ranma in the mornings.

* * * * *

Looking down at the scattered bodies that littered the vacant street the redheaded beauty known as Marvel Girl shook her head. _This looks like something Bobby is capable of doing_, she sent telepathically to her companions.

_Yeah, they appear to have been frozen_, the weather witch agreed. Though lightning was her favored weapon, freezing winds were useful as well.

_Bobby doesn't live too far from here_, Rogue added. _But he wouldn't do this, would he?_

_If they attacking mutants he might_, Jean replied. _Though he knows better_.

The other women nodded. As X-men all of them were trained to use their powers responsibly, but this, this would clearly be an abuse of his power if he was the one responsible.

_I think we need to pay him a visit, just in case_, Jean sent the others. _Besides, we don't know if we can really trust this Ranma kid still_.

* * * * *

"I don't understand why you don't just reveal yourself," the blond haired man stated to his companion.

"Because if I do that everyone is going to want my autograph or ask for some money," the other man stated. "Outside of my suit everyone knows who I am. Without your mask no one knows who you are."

"It's not my fault that you revealed yourself to the world," the man that was the symbol of American Superheroes mumbled as he tried to ignore the odd looks that people were shooting him. Though he had a powerful body he knew that most of it was due to the super soldier serum that he'd managed to survive and take advantage of. But even with the serum he knew that he had to work hard to maintain the physical advantage given to him.

Despite his relative good looks and confidence, the fact that he appeared to be mumbling to himself drew unwanted attention to him, almost as much attention as wearing his other outfit would have.

"Tony, Carol said that our target turns into a guy, right?" he spoke into his communicator.

"Yeah, why?" the billionaire superhero replied.

"She had a pigtail too, right?"

"Yeah…"

"The pigtailed Japanese boy to my two thirty across the street," the veteran superhero said, not sure where his teammate was exactly.

Scanning the boy, who was looking up at him, Tony Stark recorded the boy as he smiled and flashed a 'V'.

"Cap, do you know where I am?"

"Roughly, why?"

"I think the kid actually sees me."

"He flashed you the peace sign?"

"Yeah."

"It's him alright."

"I just hope he doesn't turn me into a girl," Tony grumbled. "Good thing I'm in a water proof suit. Still, I'm sure I'd look great as a woman."

* * * * *

A/N

I'll end it there for now.

Yes, Happosai is the Sorcerer Supreme. Expect a lot of fun from him, and Taro.

Dreamingfox


	7. Chapter 7

Author's Notes –

Yeah, I don't own Ultimate Marvel, or regular Marvel, or Disney (who owns Marvel). Oh, and of course I don't own Ranma either.

Thanks for all the feedback. Yes, I am looking for a beta for this if anyone is interested. I'm not completely up to date on my Ultimate Marvel universe, hell, I'm not really up on Spider-man (not since the 'Brand New Day' or whatever it's called arch started at least) either.

* * * * *

"Sir," the nameless redheaded Hydra agent barked as he stood before the current Madam Hydra. "Ma'am," he corrected as he noted that the green haired woman hadn't even bothered to look at him. Yes, using the correct title helped.

"Yes," the busty woman replied as she glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes. As the current Madam Hydra she had many responsibilities. After all, conquering the world was a very demanding job. There were secret recruits to train, secret bases to build, secret weapons to build, and stealing secrets from Shield and A.I.M., planting spies into every major industry and Fortune 500 business so they could secretly funnel money and resources to Hydra, and then there was the fact that she had to maintain the glowing green hair and lipstick. Yes, it was very demanding; especially the hair and lipstick.

"We've managed to decrypt some of the information we stole from Shield," the squad leader stated.

"Only some of the information?" What was so important that he came to her with only some of the information?

Showing no fear in the face of his terrifying leader, the nameless agent nodded, "We managed to access Nick Fury's case files. It seems that after the failed execution of the Hulk he deployed Wolverine to kill the Hulk. During that time Dr. Betty Ross managed to steal a hybrid version of the Super-Soldier serum and injected herself with it, creating the being called She-Hulk. She apparently matches the Hulk in strength and ferocity, but somehow Fury was able to apprehend her. The file contains the location of the secret base, a base that even the current Acting Director of Shield does not know of."

The nameless agent took a deep breath. That had proven to be harder than he'd expected.

"How is it that the current Director doesn't know about this information?" the green haired woman asked.

"It was encrypted on an external hard drive," the redhead explained. "My squad happened to find the archives when we fought our way into the Holding Cell area where we found Kraven. It also contains Fury's personal notes on Kraven the Hunter, Dr. Octopus, Electro, R.H.I.N.O., and the design specks for the 'Spider-slayers' he had commissioned to take out Spider-man. There's more, but we haven't decrypted all of that yet."

Madam Hydra nodded. "And where is this uber-secret base?"

Taking a calming breath, the Hydra agent formerly known as Shannon Flash too a moment to compose himself as he prepared for the worst. "It's right on the edge of the continental shelf of Antarctica."

Madam Hydra could sense that he wasn't telling her everything, but decided to let him reconsider his words before he continued.

"I had our satellites diverted to confirm the existence of the base," he explained. "It appears as though A.I.M. has somehow learned of the base and is massing a force to attack it."

Eyes glowing with rage, Madam Hydra turned her full attention to the unnamed agent. "Divert all our available forces and mobile bases!" she ordered. If there was one thing she couldn't stand, it was losing to A.I.M. There was no way Hydra would lose to a group of self-serving techno geeks and nerds!

* * * * *

As a fully and capably trained Shield Agent there were few things that Carol Danvers dreaded. Though she had started as just another field agent her excellent record and outstanding leadership skills and qualities had helped her achieve the position of Acting Director of Shield. Despite being more than qualified for the position she wasn't allowed to take full responsibility of Shield, not with Nick Fury still around. While she had the organizational skills to effectively run Shield, she apparently wasn't deemed qualified to truly run the black-ops organization and maintain all of its secrets. That slight was constantly being rubbed into her face by all the Shield agents that openly referred to her as 'Acting Director' as the real director was currently being questioned about his involvement in the Ultimatum Wave that nearly destroyed the entire world.

Standing in front of her desk, the desk that stood between herself and Nick Fury, Carol felt a true sense of dread. She hadn't joined Shield just because it was the best organization. She'd joined because she wanted power. She'd joined because she'd wanted to be the next Super-Soldier, the first female Super-Soldier. Instead she'd been given a different type of power, not the 'level the world' or even the 'destroy a building' type of power that the superheroes had, but the kind that actually got things done.

But working with the Ultimates as the Acting Director of Shield had been humbling. True, Shield got things done, and they were the ones who were held accountable for the titanic fights that leveled half of New York or destroyed a base, but it was the super-powered heroes that got all the glory. They were the ones that the news loved. Then again, Shield was a Black-Ops organization.

"It seems that you've made a mess of things while I've been gone," Nick stated as he looked over the damage reports from the recent attack on the Heli-carrier.

"Sir, with all due respect, no one expected Hydra to have amassed so much powerful tech," the blond stated in her defense.

"Did you really think that leaving Latveria unguarded for a month would deter some shadow organization like Hydra or A.I.M. from raiding the ruins of Dr. Doom's nation of his technology? Did you not see what A.I.M. did to the Baxter building a few weeks after the Ultimatum Wave hit New York? What made you think that it was a good idea to leave Latveria unguarded? What made you think that you could leave such dangerous technology around for just anyone to take?"

"Sir, we were swamped with rescue and recovery jobs," Carol answered.

"We are a Black-Ops organization," Nick said, truly living up to his family name as he seemed to radiate righteous fury. "We don't handle rescue and recovery unless it's one of our people, and even then only when they have valuable information or when we're trying to recover dangerous technology. We should have been performing rescue and recovery on Latveria."

"Sir."

"Don't sir me Agent Danvers," the true director of Shield said as he dressed her down. "As of right now I am back in charge of Shield."

"Sir," she said in protest.

"The President himself signed the order this morning," he stated, slamming the order onto her desk. "I've decided to re-assign you to the Behemoth. You'll get your own brand new Heli-carrier to be in charge of."

Carol blinked. The Behemoth… that heli-carrier was being deployed to patrol Antarctica and the Savage Lands? That was where Shield and Strike unofficially sent their banished agents.

* * * * *

"So what do you think of the new team?" blared into the man's ear as he tried to follow the young pigtailed youth.

"What do you mean?" he replied.

"You know what I mean Cap," the invisible companion asked as he casually hovered over the street. "It's been what, five months?"

"I thought that that team was temporarily disbanded," the blond man stated.

"Only until Fury comes back officially."

"I don't know that I want to be on that team when he does come back," the man known as Captain America stated. "I realize that he thinks he's protecting America's interests, but I wish he'd have been more honest about it. Look at what happened with Richards; if he'd been honest with the kid about things we wouldn't have had that whole invasion from a parallel earth/dimension.

"Then there's the whole thing with Spider-man and the spider-slayers. Again, the man just doesn't trust us. Not to mention how he reacted when he was led to believe that you finding me had been a big hoax."

"Well, we all got thrown for a ride that time, Cap," Ironman stated.

Both men continued down the block in silence.

"You still hold him responsible for Thor and Valkyrie's deaths, don't you?" Tony finally asked.

"The man's been manipulating us," Captain America stated. "I don't know that I can trust him or his new team."

"That still doesn't answer my original question."

"I don't like them. They're powerful, but they're just a bunch of Fury's lapdogs. They do whatever he tells them to do whenever he tells them. That fake Spider-man is a certified psycho. The Wasp still hasn't had time to adapt to her cybernetic body, the Black Widow is trouble, and the cloned Hulk is just unnerving. Only Jim seems okay – just a supped up version of you."

"Hey," Tony replied at the jab, "I'll have you know that the original is ten times better."

"That's it exactly," Captain said with a wiry sigh. "The Original is ten times better. We may have had our issues when we were first formed, but we came together as a team. Our individual personalities gelled to make our team-work solid. This new team is lacks our fluidity and cohesiveness."

"Give them time, we'll get those guys up to speed quickly," Ironman pleaded.

"It looks like our kid is leading us away from prying eyes," Cap said, ending the current conversation. "Let me go in first and talk with him."

* * * * *

"What do you think of the new team?" Colonel Fury asked as he looked over the dossiers of the new roster for the Ultimates.

"Honestly, other than War Machine the rest of the group are a bit psycho," the criminal now known as Hawkeye stated. "That clone of Spider-man is definitely crazy, the Wasp has issues with her new body, the Black Widow reminds me too much of her predecessor, and the cloned-hulk with Banner's mind just makes me feel edgy every he looks at me.

"I think that you're trying to hard to recreate the previous team while still trying to integrate the remains of that team," the sharpshooter rationalized. "With the Hulk cone you've got a genius to replace Banner or Pym, plus the muscle of the Hulk without any of the side-effects. You've got War Machine replacing Ironman, Janet to replace herself, and the fake Black Widow to fill that role. The only thing is the Spider-man clone which is just creepy. With me, Cap, and Janet round we'll be able to shape this team up, but it's not going to be an easy road."

The bald-headed man nodded, "Thanks for the honest assessment. Now, tell me about the incident with that girl."

Clint Barton wasn't surprised at the sudden shift between topics, especially given that it was Nick Fury that he was talking to. The man was always business, all the time. Plus quickly shifting topics was the best way for him to see just what one really thought about a subject that they weren't prepared to discuss.

"I've only seen Cap lose a fight a few times," Hawkeye stated. "That's usually when there are plenty of capes around beating on him, and even then he usually comes out on top. Spider-man's not in his league, but he can hang with Cap. But the two of them were getting tossed around like rag-dolls. Between the two of them I'd say they only got two, maybe three good shots in on him."

"And she's normal?"

"If normal includes throwing Colossus through a wall, running up a wall and knocking out Storm, shooting balls of blue energy from her hand, and creating a tornado are normal; yes."

"So sending Cap and Ironman alone to apprehend this kid…"

Clint blinked. "They're going to apprehend this girl? I thought they were just questioning her?"

The look in Fury's eyes told him everything. "Normally I'd insist that she be questioned by a telepath just to make sure that she's not lying to us," the dark skinned military man stated. "But I think that our redheaded friend purposely infiltrated us just to get her hands on Dr. Doom's Mimic."

Pressing a button to reveal a small monitor Colonel Fury directed the superhero to watch as several different images of a topless redhead and a nearly naked raven haired girl pass several people.

"Clearly she's not as normal as you think," he stated. "You say that she was able to hold her own against all of you, yet she eventually succumbed to Rogue's touch, though that mysterious explosion knocked both of them out. Then once she was here the Heli-carrier was assaulted by Hydra. The security footage from this bank shows that our girl clearly wasn't with Hydra. But she was with the Mimic.

"The girl played you and Carol for fools. By acting weak she was put into a regular cell. No ordinary girl would be able to shatter titanium like that, or break vibranium laced shackles," Fury explained.

"You think the girl purposely held back just so she'd get caught, and get put into a less fortified cell," Clint rationalized. "And that her true purpose was to free Mimic?"

"You know I don't believe in coincidence," Fury said calmly as he looked at the masked hero. "After the incident with the Liberators I'm not taking any chances. I think that if we find the redhead we get the Mimic back."

"I'll mobilize the team and have them converge on Ironman's signal."

* * * * *

There were few things about the big cities that Ranma hated. The first was the sheer number of people that were around that made it that much harder to have a decent fight. The second was the fact that all the tall buildings made it that much harder to roof hop, thus forcing him to take what were to him long detours, especially since city blocks were much wider and longer. The third reason was actually related to the first as there were so many people around it was hard for Ranma to actually pinpoint who was spying on him. Sure, there was the old blond guy and then there was that hidden one, probably Ironman judging from the way the air flowed around the streets.

Though Ranma didn't recall much of the fight, he rarely did unless fights involved new attacks, and in terms of skill, well, that fight had been less then memorable. It also didn't help that he had also fighting under false pretenses and was working under the influence of alter memories, if Happosai was to be believed at least.

Reflecting on his interactions with Kitty it did appear that he didn't feel the deep resentment that he'd previously had the week before. Though he strongly disliked Kuno, he'd often put up with the arrogant kendoka because the guy could fight, yet with Kitty, who really wasn't skilled, he hadn't even respected the fact that she had been put into many dangerous situations and fought with everything she had. That was commendable and deserved at least his grudging respect, yet looking back on how he'd felt and viewed the young mutant he honestly could say that he didn't, not until Happosai had knocked him out at least. Now there was some grudging respect, though not much.

Captain America he respected. Spider-man he respected, but he'd been willing to beat them up, even kill, just to try and kill the remains of the X-men. But what was it about them that he respected? Well, Captain America was easy – the man was an accomplished fighter even though he'd had to have a power-up to make him one. Unlike others who simply took a power-up in hopes of beating up the young martial artist, Captain America had volunteered to participate for the betterment of his country as he and others fought for their country during a time of war.

Spider-man was an enigma as he had somehow acquired his powers accidentally, yet had chosen to do something with his powers. Like Ranma, Peter was using his skills to protect and serve society, though not necessarily following the letter of the law; then again, Ranma really didn't either. Both young men were unorthodox in their methods, though Peter seemed to rely too much on sheer luck rather than skill.

Spider-woman, whoever she was, was more a hybrid of Ranma and Peter in that she not only had Spider-man's powers and ability, but she had some serious training. True, it wasn't as extensive as Ranma's training, but it was something. She wasn't as easily baited as Peter was which made her more of a threat than her male counterpart.

With each step Ranma contemplated the previous night's fight, assessing his opponents' strengths and weaknesses. It was very different now that he'd actually fought them. Powers and abilities were like different styles and techniques, it all depended on how you used them. Spider-man and Spider-woman were prime examples of that as they had the same powers but used them differently because the later had actual technique combined with style while the former just had style and little technique.

Mindful of where he was going, Ranma lead the two super-heroes away from the crowds and towards a neighborhood that was in desperate need of repair.

* * * * *

The pain of her pulled groin slowly lessened with each step, a direct result of her super-human metabolism. Not needing to use her telepathy to support herself any longer, Miya stood tall and allowed herself to put her full weight on her formerly injured leg.

Despite her regeneration there was something that the young girl needed to complete her healing. Even though the young girl did not realize what she needed, her body did. The grumbling of her stomach prompted her to make another stop, this time to satisfy the need that a box full of instant ramen couldn't fill.

With her money already spent on clothes, and having promised not to use her powers to coerce others to give her food, Miya found herself stuck. _What would Ranma do?_

A flashing memory filled her mind as she thought of the busty redhead turned pigtailed boy. Yes, she knew what she had to do to get some free food.

* * * * *

There was a time when the young man known as Bobby Drake once enjoyed life. Discovering that he was a mutant had initially been hard for himself and his family, but Charles Xavier had changed how he saw his 'curse'. Being an X-man had provided him with some of the greatest and worst experiences in his short life. But it was Xavier's death, his real death at the hands of Magneto and as a result of the Ultimatum Wave that the young mutant's life had taken a turn for the worst. With all the mutants now being forced to register and all the adult mutants being conscripted into Shield, not to mention how much worse the public hated anyone labeled as a mutant, and things were much worse than anything Bobby had previously experienced. He knew that his parents hated mutants, but to have his mother kick him out when she did, well, that made everything worse.

At least he'd managed to find sanctuary with the Parkers.

But apparently that just couldn't make up for all the other crap that was in his life.

"Do you honestly think that I killed that gang of punks?" he exclaimed as he stared at his former teammates.

"We're not saying that at all," Storm said as she put her hands up to try and calm Iceman. Even with her bruises and bumps the weather manipulating mutant was able to come off as being extremely noble and regal. "We just stopped by to make sure that you and Kitty were alright, especially since the girl that attacked Liz managed to escape."

"What?!" Peter exclaimed as he found himself standing up at the news.

"We're not sure that she's actually an enemy," Jean quickly said. "The new Sorcerer Supreme spoke up on her behalf and insists that she was being manipulated. I sensed it myself, but I couldn't get a good bearing on just what was done to her because she had some sort of telepathic defenses set up."

"So why are we all here?" Gwen asked as she and Mary Jane watched the super-powered heroes discuss their current situation."

"Because your friend Ranma is that redheaded girl," Rogue explained. "Ah saw his memories but they're confusing because half the time he's a she."

"That explains why I saw him at his apartment," Mary Jane shouted as she put the clues together.

"So who was the girl that you found with Ranma?" Gwen asked as she joined the conversation.

"What girl?" Storm asked.

* * * * *

The uneasy feeling in the pit of Ranma's stomach seemed to grow. A more informed person would have thought that something bad was about to happen. Unfortunately Ranma wasn't a more informed person. Having had several bouts of severe food poisoning (thanks to Akane), the boy with a nearly cast iron stomach simply, and in this case, incorrectly assumed that he was just hungry. If not for the errant adjustments to his memory Ranma would have just settled down for several bowls of bad stir-fried udon from Noodles and Company.

As it was Ranma instead purchased some hot dogs from a corner vendor, eating his treat as he lead the super heroes further away from where he lived and from the crowded streets.

With his food finished the pigtailed boy led them into an abandoned warehouse/factory.

* * * * *

Having spent so much time under the tutelage of Charles Xavier, Jean Grey had proven herself as an accomplished telepath. And following the death of Professor Xavier and Emma Frost the telepath known as Marvel Girl often felt hard pressed to try and live up to the standard that they had set. But their faith in her as well as the faith that the cult that believed she was the Phoenix was rewarded as the telepathic mutant detected an odd energy signature without the aid of Cerebro or Cerebra. "I've picked up something odd," she stated. "I think it's our killer."

The other super-powered heroes nodded.

"I guess this little shin-dig paid off then," Peter stated as he pulled his shirt off, revealing the hidden costume beneath.

"I'm calling in Colossus," Storm stated. "I hope that it doesn't come down to a fight, but we need to be prepared for the worst. Just look at what happened yesterday."

* * * * *

Long shadows filled the vacant lot as Ranma prepared to face his two pursuers. Though they clearly were trying to be discrete about tailing him, they just weren't doing enough to avoid being noticed by the keen eyed martial artist. With nothing between himself and the unmasked superhero Ranma turned to face his persistent tail.

"Yo," he said with a wave even as he slipped into a casual defensive stance. "You must be Captain America."

"And you must be Ranma," the blond returned. "Last time I saw you, you were a girl."

The pigtailed boy shrugged. It wasn't as if he hadn't told plenty of people back in Nerima. Still… "Magical curse," he stated. "So, what are the two of you doing here?"

"We've got a few questions for you," Ironman replied as he de-cloaked and revealed himself.

"It sucks being a girl," the martial artist stated. "Girls got cramps, their period and all that wacky hormones stuff."

The blond blinked. That was unexpected.

"But with that body I can get free food just from flirting with clerks and what not," the pigtailed boy added.

Before either superhero could even think 'This is more than I want to know,' their conversation was interrupted as the rest of the new Ultimates appeared.

"Ranma Saotome, you're under arrest," War Machine declared.

"Seriously?" the astonished youth asked as he turned from Captain America to War Machine. "Just the three of you against me? That's so unfair."

"Who said it was just them?" a familiar voice asked. "You might have handed the other Spider-man his ass, but I'm not him."

"What'd you do, trade costumes with Spider-woman?" Ranma teased the Spider-man in black and white.

"Bastard!"

Just as expected, the excitable kid rushed in. Shooting a line of webbing onto a nearby crane he swung at Ranma. Landing several meters away from the martial artist he leapt at the pigtailed boy, only to be greeted with a kick to the face that sent him flying.

"Wow, you suck worse than the original," Ranma smirked.

"What are you doing here?" the unmasked Captain America asked as he rushed towards War Machine.

"Fury wants him for questioning," the gray and silver armored fighter stated.

"Fury's back?!" the blond man exclaimed.

Ranma nimbly dodged several shots. He really wasn't prepared for this fight, but hell, half of the fights that happened in Nerima he never prepared for, and these guys had nothing on the Wrecking Crew. Captain America was clearly the best fighter of the group, but still no match for Ranma. Ironman and War Machine provided muscle but were much too slow to do any damage other than perhaps from their weapons. Hawkeye and the Black Widow were just a ranged fighters and between them they couldn't get a good shot on Ranma. And then there was the bad Spider-man clone. Even with training the Spider-people weren't enough as they were to beat him. They weren't as fast, though they were stronger, but the two boys telegraphed their attacks, making defeating them with counters so much easier than anyone expected.

"HULK SMASH!" a shadowy figure shouted as it descended from above.

_Oh crap!_

Jumping into the air, Ranma not only avoided the powerful, towering figure as it landed roughly where he'd just been standing, but he also avoided the aftershocks of the Hulk's landing. Dancing through the air as he avoided the various shots and blasts from the two armored fighters and from Hawkeye, the pigtailed boy couldn't help but notice that the big green monster before him really wasn't the embodiment of rage that he'd heard. Though he was powerful, the Hulk didn't radiate rage and anger as one would expect.

Kicking off of a falling car Ranma bounced over another volley of blasts before a gentle buzzing alerted the young martial artist to the presence of the last of the Ultimates. Having swatted down an entire hive of angry bees Ranma easily dispatched the Wasp with a light slap that sent the cybernetic mutant flying unexpectedly into a quickly approaching Spider-man.

Distracted by the sudden impact from the Wasp crashing into him the fake Spider-man hesitated, giving Ranma an even larger opening to land a quick yet punishing punch to the throat. The sudden jolt of pain was enough to force the black-suited Spider-man to freeze as he clutched at his throat and fought for breath. Grabbing the boy's shirt Ranma forcefully threw the imitation into the Black Widow, sending the pair sprawling into a scrapped car.

Reflexively Ranma jumped back, avoiding the car that was thrown at him by the Hulk. Unwilling to simply let the Ultimates take pot shots at him, Ranma rushed between Captain America and the Hulk, engaging them in hand to hand combat.

"You're not the real Hulk, are you?" he asked as he ducked under a mighty overhead right that would have crushed his skull. Jabbing his finger into the Hulk's eyes Ranma temporarily blinded the titan. Yes, powerful blows weren't going to be effective against the creature's thick skin. It was a lot like fighting Ryoga actually – powerful but slow, yet capable of taking a world of punishment.

Ducking under a quick high kick Ranma swept the legs out from underneath Captain America, then unleashed a vicious short ranged vacuum blade at the Hulk's chest. The deep cut gushed green blood, startling both recipient and deliverer.

"Holy shit!" the fake Hulk exclaimed.

"You really are a fake, aren't you?" Ranma asked as he slipped behind the Hulk and used the big beast as a shield as Ironman and War Machine unloaded several blasts at Ranma. "Here I was all geeked up at getting to test myself against the Hulk and they send me an imposter," he deadpanned as he jumped up and slammed his palms against the green ears of his opponent. The skillfully delivered blow managed to throw the big man off balance, though not enough to actually rupture the eardrums.

"But at least you're as strong and stupid as the real Hulk," Ranma taunted, speaking loud enough that the fake Hulk could get a rough idea of just where he was. Slipping under the punch, Ranma danced around his opponent even as Captain America (now with his mask) rejoined the fray.

Smirking, Ranma jumped up to avoid a sweep from the American hero. The following uppercut from a still unbalanced fake Hulk nearly caught Ranma. Had he not been waiting for such a shot Ranma might have just allowed the blow to whiz by like normal, but instead he landed on the mighty fist, using the force behind the punch to launch him into the air – right at War Machine. Tackling the startled armored warrior in the air, he expertly shifted the large cannon on his opponent's shoulder so that it discharged its full complement of missiles at Ironman. It wasn't that he was expecting to hit the red and gold figure with said missiles, no, Ranma's intentions were much different. Watching as Ironman expertly shot down three missiles then dodged the last two, Ranma smiled as the missiles hit his intended target – the large vat of dirty used oil. The resulting explosion knocked Hawkeye off his feet while also filling the air with thick, dark smoke and heat, plenty of heat.

The heat was a bonus, but the smoke had been the primary objective of the attack. Though Ironman and War Machine were fully capable of playing supporting roles in this fight, Ranma couldn't help but think that given the numbers against him, the armored hero was probably recording the fight, possibly even broadcasting it. The smoke would hamper such recordings, thus making it harder for the heroes' to record his moves and come up with a game plan against him.

Ripping off the cannon on War Machine's other shoulder Ranma threw it at Ironman before kicking off of the gray and silver figure before kicking off of him and landing squarely on the Hulk's head. A quick two steps to the head in an attempt to enrage the brute failed though Ranma did manage to easily dodge the wild swipes that were meant to dislodge him. Landing behind the fake Hulk Ranma pulled down the huge pants.

"Where the hell do you get these?" he asked as the Hulk clone tripped over the pants that were now around his ankles. "They're super flexible and durable. I need to get me some clothes made of this stuff."

"Would you shut up?!" the clone roared.

"Yep, definitely not the Hulk," Ranma reiterated as he parried a strike from Captain America, "but you're not a stupid as the real Hulk. Still, I really wanted to fight the real Hulk.

Suddenly a red light illuminated the smoky junk yard as a powerful beam of red energy collided with a the Hulk clone as he tried to pull up his pants, knocking him off his feet and sending a recovering Black Widow and Spider-clone scrambling.

"Is the dance card full?" Miya smirked as she blasted the bulker War Machine with another optic blast. "Or do I have to make room on it first?"

* * * * *

A/N

Nerd Hulk? Yeah, Banner's brain inside of the Hulk's body. Not sure what the hell they were thinking when they did that because Banner is kind of weak willed. I can only see bad things happening as a result.

Not sure about what really happened to Janet (a.k.a. the Wasp), but there is a new Wasp. Not sure if it's a cyborg or not but I'm going with my own AU storyline.

Please Read and Review.

Dreamingfox


	8. Chapter 8

Author's Notes –

While Ranma isn't as strong as any of the superheroes, his hand and foot speed is fast enough to block/parry and counter up close. But when fighting as they were in the previous chapters where you have a team against an individual the rules are different. Cap knows he has back up so he's willing to take more risks, especially since he believes that Ranma can't actually hurt him. The few blows Ranma has landed didn't actually hurt Cap, just disarm him or unbalance him.

Straight up against Spider-man, Ranma has the edge because Spidy doesn't have any style. Especially 1616 version of Spidy. He's reckless and rushes in without always thinking things through. He's faster than the Hulk and is tough enough to endure after a long fight, but in a straight fight with Ranma where he can't provoke his opponent (who is at least on his level or better) he loses. Oh, and the Ultimate Spider-man doesn't have 616's spider-sense, so he can't sense danger or predict attacks.

As for Ironman, Ranma never hits Ironman with his fists, he just throws things or uses other things against Ironman because he knows he isn't tough enough to hit him bare handed and win. But Ironman isn't a fighter; he's a slugger and shooter. Later versions of Ironman are faster and can hold their own against a fighter like Captain America (see Civil War where he schools Cap because the armor is programmed and has downloaded all of Cap's moves) but this is 1616 Ironman, and he hasn't seen enough of Ranma's fighting style to plan for Ranma. In a spur of the moment fight like these last two it's a draw as neither can really hurt/hit the other. War Machine is just a beefed up version with more firepower. Now, Ranma against Hulk-buster Ironman, well, read below. Oh, and Ranma doesn't know the Breaking Point, so he can't use that against them either.

Now, Ranma against the real Hulk or Thor is a non-issue because both of them are tougher than anything Ranma's gone against and even though they wouldn't be able to hit him at the beginning, they could employ other tactics against Ranma (area damage effects) and wear Ranma down. Heck, the same would be true of Colossus in his metal body or a heavy hitting Ironman (Hulk-buster).

But against Bruce Banner in the Hulk's body, Ranma has the advantage as a fighter. Banner's not a fighter, he's a thinker. The real Hulk is smart but fights instinctually, and when push comes to shove he overpowers. Nerd Hulk (as he's been dubbed) isn't a natural at fighting like the real Hulk is.

* * * * *

Things were never the way they appeared. Zarda knew that fact well. She was in fact a prime example of that little saying. As the last survivor of an alien force sent to colonize and conquer the Earth she knew that she was different yet to the casual observer she appeared to be nothing more than an extraordinary beauty with the utmost confidence in herself. But it wasn't always that way. Back in her original world, the one dubbed "Supreme Earth" or "Earth 31916", she was feared and respected, but living in this Earth, also known as "Ultimate Earth" or "Earth 1616", she was merely another pretty face.

Having promised Captain America that she would try to learn from the civilian populace and society in general, the woman known as Power Princess had decided to travel the world to discover the other supposed joys of life as she waited to return to her original world. She knew why the respected hero had asked her to do that; but she couldn't help enjoy testing herself in battle and reveling in the destruction that she wrought her opponents. Yes, it was her blood thirsty ways that the former leader of the Ultimates sought to curb. Though she admired his courage, she couldn't help but think that his restraint would ultimately come back to bite him in the ass. Still, she was the Princess of Power. There was no one or thing in this world that she feared. Even the mighty Thor and incredible Hulk had proven to be no match for her, and Magneto had been little more than an after-thought.

Watching the live footage of the fight between the current roster of the Ultimates against the boy known only as Ranma, the raven haired beauty couldn't help but wonder if the boy would be a challenge to her. Not only had he managed to hold his own against some of this Earth's mightiest heroes, but he appeared to be winning. He'd nearly beaten the heroes before, and this sudden rematch did seem to be going his way despite the apparent lack of any super-powers.

With the feed suddenly going blank the bald headed man turned to her. While Fury had played a role in the ultimate killing and attack on the America of her world, the man had served his time and ultimately been pardoned by the new President. His return to his native world had been greeted with skepticism and concern from the super-powered heroes, but was greeted with open and excepting arms from the rest of the world. Even without powers the man was feared by some in the super hero community for his brilliance and ruthlessness. Not only had the man helped to create several super heroes, but he had managed to convince others to fight under one flag and banner, creating a truly fearsome team of heroes that most super-villains feared.

The fact that he had created a contingency plan for each of the super-heroes should they ever go rogue though was what made him appear as untrustworthy, but in Zarda's eyes it was something to be admired and respected.

"I want the kid brought back alive," the Colonel stated.

Zarda smiled. Yes, she could do that. If the boy was capable of going toe-to-toe with the Hulk, even a fake Hulk, he was definitely someone to watch out for.

* * * * *

"Deal?" Happosai grinned as he stood before the magical pool of water.

"It is acceptable," the demonic whose image appeared on the surface of the water agreed.

After centuries of having to deal with demonic beings and angry spirits, Happosai felt that he had a good understanding of how to handle them. Unlike previous Sorcerer Supremes who simply battled with the demonic forces, the newest Sorcerer Supreme had taken a drastically different course. Then again, unlike his predecessors, Happosai understood that he wasn't on par with any of those legendary magic users. For him, striking a deal with the major demons that wished to enter the mortal world was the safer route, especially since he really didn't have the power and knowledge to stop any major demon from trying to force his way into said realm/world.

Two thin shards from the Gem of Cryttorak glowed with a more intense light. Slowly the shards touched, and then grew as the demonic energies restored the destroyed gem.

Taking the gem but being careful not to touch it, Happosai turned to his assistant. "By taking this accept the name Teruharu Taro," he stated as he held the gem out to the youth before him.

Taro grinned. Not only was he allowed to be renamed, but he was also gaining a power-up. Yes, he could live with that, even if he had to serve Happosai and assist in the defense of the world from supernatural forces. Reaching out he took the gem into his hands.

The sudden flare of magical energies nearly blinded the two men.

Blinking as his eyes readjusted to the darkness, Happosai looked at the now transformed Teruharu Taro. "Did I forget something?"

* * * * *

"Over there!" Rogue exclaimed as she pointed towards the columns of smoke in the distance.

"I think we can figure that out for ourselves," Spider-man quipped as he shot some webbing so that he could keep up with the air borne X-men. "Rogue, when did you have a sex change?"

Bobby Drake, a.k.a. the Iceman, nearly fell off his giant ice slide. Having once crushed on Rogue and been intimate with her, he was about to attest to the fact that Rogue was all woman. But the sight of a male Rogue truly disturbed him on many different levels. For a brief moment the young mutant forgot to create more ice even as he skated ahead. If not for the fact that Storm had created a stiff breeze that pushed him back onto his giant ice structure Bobby was sure that he would have fallen to his death.

"Dammit all!" the deeper voice only served to remind her that she had changed. "Ah thought that the curse was triggered by water!"

Having been levitated by Marvel Girl (which was a better alternative to piggy backing with Spider-man or riding on Iceman's slide, she had not noticed the change. Her form fitting outfit which was designed to adjust with her body had not given her transformation away either.

"Ah am going to kill him," Rogue proclaimed.

"But aren't we supposed to be looking for someone else?" Kitty asked as she tried to refrain from laughing.

"So, explain the part where you turn into a guy," Peter deadpanned.

* * * * *

The tide of the battle had clearly changed with Miya's arrival. Not only was she powerful, but she was fast. With the speed of Quicksilver, the strength and durability of Colossus, reflexes and healing factor of Wolverine, Cyclops' powerful optic blast, Storm's ability to control the weather, Jean Grey's telepathy and telekinesis, Iceman's freezing blasts, and Firestar's fiery powers she was a one woman army. All she lacked was Shadowcat's ability to phase through thins, something hard to do when her skeleton was laced with vibranium (compared to Wolverine's adamantium). Still, her ultimate weakness to Gamma radiation was keeping the pair from truly dominating as she was forced to keep a healthy distance from the Nerd Hulk.

With her speed she was able to stay away from the fake Hulk, though she still had to pause or at least slow down before she shot off an optic blast as she had yet to master all of her powers or even combine some of the more powerful ones. Blurring through the battle field she nailed Ironman with a powerful optic blast then suddenly reappeared behind the Hulk and freezing the ground he stood on, robbing him of any traction as Ranma landed hard kick to the Nerd's face.

"In your face moron!" she shouted as the monster hit the ground, rattling the piles of scraps that surrounded them.

Landing gracefully Ranma suppressed the urge to sigh. Now was not the time to scold her about her lack of tact. Really, her taunts were second rate at best. He'd definitely have to work with her on her taunts and on mastering her many abilities and powers.

Spinning to his side he barely avoided several shots from Hawkeye and the Black Widow. Not bothering to watch as they were bashed over the head by a speedy Miya, Ranma twisted his body as he avoided a haymaker from Captain America. A rapid exchange of punches and kicks filled the air between the two fighters as they once again tested each other's defenses. Though they had done so before, that was when Ranma had been in his female body. This allowed them to get more information on teach other, like helping the Captain to realize that boy type Ranma was slower than the female, but made up for it with increased power and durability. Again the differences in their range came into play as the taller and more muscular super soldier slowly pressed Ranma back with his advantage. Only Ranma's slightly faster hand and foot speed allowed him to avoid the blows through a combination of dodging and blocking/parrying.

Unlike the last time when they fought Captain America refused to leave any openings in his defense. Though he pressed Ranma, he knew better than to overextend himself as that had been the cause for his near defeat the last time they fought.

"You're pretty good," Ranma said with a smirk. "But I've seen better."

A fierce middle kick barely missed Ranma who didn't bother to take advantage of the opening.

"Thanks," Cap replied as he spun around with a shield bash only to again have Ranma nimbly dodge him, "I don't doubt that you have. But why does a kid like you become a world class during times of peace? I know Japan didn't have a mandatory enlistment or a standing army."

Ranma twisted around another series of punches even as he slowly turned to his left. "Pride," he answered. "My old man wanted me to be the best; to be a man amongst men."

"So you're fighting us to test yourself?"

A swift right left combo was skillfully dodged as the pigtailed boy danced around the attack. "Nope," he replied as he allowed Captain America to set himself up for the next exchange. "You attacked me."

A stiff uppercut with his left forced Ranma back further still. "But only because you attacked the X-men." A vicious diagonal slash with the shield missed its mark as the martial artist continued to retreat.

"Didn't mean to," Ranma shrugged as he skipped over a leg sweep. "Someone was screwing with me, making me do things I normally wouldn't do."

A flying knee forced Ranma to his left even as Cap left his right side exposed to a counter attack.

Not taking the bait, the pigtailed boy jumped back as the fake Hulk's foot landed right where he would have been had he taken the opportunity to attack.

"Give it up kid!" the intelligent Hulk shouted as he threw a powerful overhead punch (every punch was overhead given the height difference between the Hulk and Ranma). "You'll never beat the Ultimates!"

"Ultimate Losers," Ranma quipped, trying to enrage this version of the Hulk.

"I don't get mad," the monster stated as he went for a fierce back handed blow while Cap went for a sweep.

Twisting his body Ranma effortlessly glided between the two well timed attacks. A subtle shift of his legs was all he needed to land on his feet with enough time to jump out of the way of the next coordinated attack.

"Of course you don't," he shot back as he dodged another series of punches from Captain America. Out of the corner of his eye he watched as Miya shot down War Machine with a fiery blast. Yes, she was clearly reading his mind. "That's why you suck as the Hulk," he rationalized. "The real Hulk is anger incarnate, you're just a poser. You play at being the Hulk, but if you ever faced the real thing you'd still think you could beat him even though you couldn't."

"You don't know what the hell you're talking about!" a clearly agitated Nerd Hulk shouted as he slammed his fists against the ground.

Timing the attack just perfectly, Ranma leapt into the air to avoid the shockwave that sent a tremble through the ground that slowed Miya even as she hit Ironman with a long, hot blast of heat.

"Of course I do – I actually know what it's like to get into a fight," the pigtailed boy explained. "You were probably bullied as a kid and now that you've got muscles you think no one can beat you, right?"

Nerd Hulk answered with a roar as he slammed his fist into an already scrapped car.

"See, you don't even fight like a real fighter," he continued to taunt. "You're brain is making your punches and attacks slower because you're hesitating."

Ducking under a thrown car Ranma listened as the car impacted with another stack of cars waiting to be crushed.

"Okay," he added, "that time you didn't hesitate. But you're too concerned with trying to bring me back alive and trying to just knock me out that you hold back just enough that even some 'normal' kid like me easily avoids getting hurt."

Nerd Hulk picked up a fender, swinging it hard at Ranma who was forced to jump out of harms way.

"Now, if I were really going to fight the real Hulk I'd just run away," Ranma conceded. "There's no way in hell that I'd stand a chance against the real Hulk. But against a poser like you I'd wear you out. As 'smart' as you think you are, you're just some nerd with muscles that you've never actually had to use."

Leaping back, to avoid a vertical slash with the battered fender, Ranma suddenly found himself slightly off balance as his center of gravity was thrown off by his sudden transformation. No longer in his true form, the now redheaded girl barely managed to land on his feet. For once he was glad that his female body was shorter as the fender sailed through the air where his head would have been had he been in his male form.

"Dammit!" he exclaimed. "I didn't even feel the water."

Cap rushed in, nearly tagging the redhead with a punch to the stomach. Instead he connected with the silky shirt, ripping it open and exposing the busty girl's amble bosom.

Nerd Hulk stopped as he caught an eye full of the redhead's exposed chest. Like any true nerd, the Hulk clone blushed and instinctively turned away. It was one thing to look at naked pictures of women on the computer or even in the strip club as those women were monetarily compensated to do that, but to see that in person with someone who wasn't being paid, well, the nerd's mind tried to play the part of the gentleman or either shut down completely. Unfortunately for Nerd Hulk it was the later as. Sure, Bruce Banner had seen Betty Ross naked plenty of times (which explained the reason why General Ross hated Bruce Banner so much), but she had been consenting, and she didn't have the redhead's giggling rack.

_Nerdy Hulk equals Ryoga_, Ranma thought as he immediately dismissed the gray skinned monster. "Yet another reason why he'd lose to the Hulk," he sighed as he squared off against Captain America.

"That's just low," the masked hero stated, "using your feminine charms to beguile a man in the middle of a fight; that's fighting dirty."

"Use what you got," Ranma smirked as he noted the slight blush in his opponent's face. Clearly the good Captain was more interested in watching the pigtailed girl's hands, feet and eyes rather than at his bouncing breasts. "And I got some of the best!"

"Do you now?" a new voice challenged even as she announced herself.

_Crap_, _Power Princess or whatever_, the redhead thought, _not good_.

Reading his mind Miya blasted the inter-dimensional alien with a powerful optic blast, knocking the raven haired beauty out of the air. Knowing full well that the blast was not enough to take her out, Mimic rushed in, her bio-metal body giving her much more weight and power behind the punishing blows that rained down on Zarda. Though she lacked the power and strength of the older Zarda, Miya had an edge on speed. True, she couldn't reach Mach-10 like Quicksilver could, but Mach-2 was more than enough to deal with Zarda. And with her telepathy the young fighter had a definite edge, for now.

Knowing that Miya couldn't hold out against Power Princess for long, Ranma decided to try and end the fight as soon as possible. With Captain America slightly distracted by Ranma's bare breasts the redhead, Ranma waited for his opponent to throw a punch. Grabbing his wrist the pigtailed redhead twisted and shifted so that the momentum and force behind the punch sent the larger fighter crashing into and through a windshield.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" Spider-man's now familiar voice called out.

Looking over her shoulder Ranma wondered just how much worse things would get. Spotting the X-men close on the young super hero's tail, the pigtailed redhead knew that once again the tide of battle was turning. Having lost to them once before, Ranma was confident that he could defeat them if he needed to, but did he really need to?

"Why do they call you 'Spider-man' when you're just a boy?" the redhead shot off as she tried to egg on the young hero. "The same with you 'Iceman'; at least Shadowcat and Rogue don't denote age. But Marvel Girl? You're an adult, though your figure could use some work."

"Don't let him get to you," Jean advised as she set Rogue down.

"Don't worry," the woman turned man grumbled.

"How do you like being a guy?" Ranma taunted. "Beats being a girl!"

"Sexist pig!" Kitty shouted as she followed behind Spider-man's charge.

"Shadowcat!" the redheaded telepath called out, trying to calm the younger girl.

Ranma knew that he needed to end things quickly. Standing his ground as Spider-boy and Iceboy rushed in the redhead ripped the remains of his tattered shirt of, exposing to the two teenaged boys a magnificent pair of breasts. Startled by the unorthodox move both paused even as their momentum carried them forward. Several hundred punches rattled the pair as Ranma unleashed his powerful and swift blows at subsonic speeds.

By the time that Peter's mind registered the threat he was already feeling the stinging blows connecting with his face. In the fraction of a second for him to register the pain the young hero was already out.

Bits of ice showered Kitty as she watched in horror as two of the boys she cared about were defeated right before her eyes. Yes, Bobby hadn't faired very well against the redhead the last time, and he really wasn't a close quarters fighter, but he and Peter had been thrashed in the blink of an eye.

She barely dodged the ball of blue light that the redhead emitted, but the second and third blasts connected squarely with her despite the fact that she was normally intangible. Dazed and rattled, she could only stand there as Jean's impromptu shield was shattered by a second barrage of glowing blue balls and then a punishing punch to her stomach knocked the air out of her lungs.

"Cat!" Jean shouted, prompting Ranma to involuntarily shudder as the smaller redhead backed away from the young mutant.

"She's afraid of cats," the telepath exclaimed as she read Ranma's surface thoughts and emotions. "Rogue, Storm; keep her busy, I'm going to find some cats."

Rogue nodded. She, er, he, had business with Ranma. Wait… why was he thinking of himself as male? She was a girl regardless of the fact that she had a guy's, um, equipment… right? Whatever, she was going to kick his ass!

Rushing in Rogue sought to keep Ranma busy so as to provide Storm with an opportunity to recover their fallen allies.

With an evil smirk on his face, Ranma grabbed the breathless Shadowcat's leg and spun around twice before sending the petit girl flying at Rogue.

"Sucks being a girl, doesn't it?" he teased as Rogue ducked under the human missile.

Using her fears against her, Ranma knew that the currently male Rogue would not want to catch Shadowcat for fear of coming into contact with the younger girl's skin and triggering her mutant power. Anticipating a dodge, Ranma waited to see just which way Rogue would move to avoid Shadowcat. Untrained as she was at reading her opponent's movements, the tall brunette with white highlights twisted to her left.

Kicking several gallons of dirty oil at his opponent, the pigtailed boy waited as Rogue instinctively reacted, punching the missiles with all her might. The resulting splatter was truly impressive, though expected as Rogue found herself covered in thick, dirty oil.

A fierce wind and the pelting rain that followed didn't help, though it did knock the rest of the oil out of the air and kept Rogue from becoming totally drenched in oil. And of course it transformed her back into her true form.

"Aw, you like being a girl that much?" Ranma taunted as he slipped in and swept Rogue's feet out from under her. "Or is it that you just couldn't fight as a guy? Then again, with a face like that I wouldn't want to be a guy either!"

"Arah!" the enraged mutant shouted as she rolled onto her back and then to her feet.

"Yeah, I'm just playing with you," the redhead stated with a truly infuriating smirk. "You're not in my league, hell, even though you somehow managed to get my curse you didn't get any of my moves or style, sucks to be you."

A vicious kick to the face sent her flying. Given her super-human durability Ranma didn't feel bad about it at all.

"I gotta admit, as a girl you're pretty hot, but you're still not in my league."

Grabbing several hub-caps he flung them at Storm, forcing her onto the defensive. Summoning a powerful gust of wind she managed to deflect the projectiles, giving Ranma the time he needed to nail Rogue with an uppercut to the gut.

"Yes, American women have nice boobs, but they're not as perky and round as mine." To prove his point he grabbed Rogue's hand and pressed the gloved hand to his breasts. Twisting his hips he sent her flying again, this time into the puddle of oil.

With so much oil around, Ranma knew that Storm wouldn't be sending any blasts of lightning his way for fear that a near miss, which was sure to happen, would accidentally ignite the oil and start a bigger fire. And the cold rain wouldn't do anything but discomfort her. No, Storm was effectively useless other than to keep his ultimate technique in check.

Thus it came as a surprise when the African mutant landed directly between him and the still slipping Rogue.

"You serious?" he asked, clearly skeptical.

The white haired woman nodded as she steeled her resolve.

"Why are you guys attacking me anyways?" Ranma asked as he shifted into his usual stance.

"Why did you attack us yesterday?" she asked, answering his question with her own.

Ranma shrugged. He knew that she was just trying to buy time, but would it really matter? "Sorry, my bad," he finally said in as a sincere voice as possible. "Someone's been messing with me, and I still don't know if you guys are a threat or not, but since you attacked me this time, well, I figure I'd pay you guys back for yesterday."

"So this is revenge?" the regal woman replied as she slowly inched towards him in a stance that he couldn't recognize. Then again, he hadn't traveled that far west during his training voyage. There had to be more styles out there, just not respected as the styles developed in China, Japan, and Korea.

"Ranma Saotome never loses," he said confidently, "and when I do I come back to prove that I'm better. Besides, you guys attacked me today."

Storm nodded, then clapped her hands together, creating a blinding flash that caught Ranma off guard.

Only his natural reflexes kept him from being tackled to the ground by a dirty Rogue as he unconsciously sidestepped her charge and tripped her up. Blinking away the effects of the bright flash, Ranma's eyes slowly focused on something that was much closer to his face than he cared for.

"C-c-c-cat!" he exclaimed.

Using her powers Marvel Girl had not only found a cat, but she was now dangling it right before the busty redhead. Even with his blinding speed Ranma couldn't get away from the one thing he feared the most as the mutant kept the cat right in his face.

Rogue grinned as she stood up and watched the panicked girl scramble. The part of her that wanted revenge overrode the part of her that had absorbed Ranma's memories, though that part was slowly clawing its way into her thoughts. Her vindictive grin was slowly replaced with horror as saw Ranma's memories of being tied down with fish cakes and thrown into a pit of house cats. Images of the destruction that neko-Ranma wrought once he went berserk startled her. "Jean!" she shouted. "You don't want to do that!"

"Reow!"

Too late.

* * * * *

A/N

Yes, Ranma did touch the Gem of Cryttorak, but he hasn't been gifted with all of those powers. Just like this version of the Juggernaut didn't receive the full power-up, Ranma and Rogue, and Taro, haven't received it either. Ranma is stronger than he normally is, but after Happosai took the shard out of him he reverted to his normal strength.

Ranma's hand speed is much greater than Captain America or Spider-man's, and that's not even figuring in the Amaguriken. Realistically, Cap's spent four years in his body (active time, not including the time he was in ice) and though he trains constantly, he it did take some time for him to get used to his body. Ranma on the other hand has trained with his still developing body since he was able to walk. Cap at present still has yet to reach the full potential of his body, same with Spider-man. But once they reach their peak they could beat Ranma as he is now. Keep in mind that Ranma is still growing and adjusting to his own body/bodies as well.

Everyone thinks that Storm is just a ranged/distance fighter, but she is capable of some close combat and hand to hand fighting. Yes, she would get owned by Ranma, Captain America, or Spider-man.

Dreamingfox


	9. Chapter 9

Author's Notes –

Wow, I can't say how much I'm enjoying this fic. But for those of you who are wondering about some of my other fics, yes, I've been writing those as well, just haven't felt satisfied with something about them so once I get the kinks worked out I'll post them.

Now, back to this fic, yes, Spider-man does have a spider-sense, but it's not as strong as the Spider-man from 616.

Ultimate Marvel takes place on Earth 1610, but for the purposes of this fic the events are occurring on Earth 1616. That might become relevant later. Otherwise it's relevant only because the Marvel characters being used are very similar to their counter-parts from 1610, but not exactly.

The last I recall, the Venom suit that Brock had got taken away by the Beetle to Latveria (sp?). The Spider-man clone turned Scorpion was captured but is listed as dead, Richard Parker, the aged Spider-man clone, died, and had the FF promise to look after Peter.

Reed Richards is no longer with the FF and is off on his own. Don't worry, he'll pop up eventually.

* * * * *

Miya had been sure that she'd ultimately lose her fight against the alien known as Zarda. The woman had single handedly defeated the Hulk after all. Even with the combined powers of many of the X-men that she'd been exposed to, the young artificial mutant knew she wouldn't be a match for the powerful inter-dimensional alien.

But Rogue's sudden arrival changed everything. While Rogue was only as physically strong as Colossus, her ability to drain her opponents by touching their skin was useful.

Running at Mach 3 the blindingly quick girl absorbed what she could of Rogue's power from a quick pass before suddenly changing direction and nailing Zarda with a vicious punch to the back of her raven haired head. Grabbing the other woman's neck she slowly drained her victim of her powers and energy even as the pair sped through the junk yard.

A sudden twist was all Zarda needed to break free of the casual hold. Breaking free of Mimic's hold, the alien woman crashed into a pile of scrapped and crushed cars. Weakened by the unexpected attack, it was all she could do to just stay conscious as she was buried in scrap metal.

With her opponent out of the fight, Miya turned her attention to the X-men and the remaining Ultimates.

* * * * *

"Run," was all Rogue could say before the feral redheaded martial artist before her sprang. It wasn't a battle plan, it was a survival instinct.

Dropping the cat, Jean was fortunate that she'd been levitating over the battlefield, though the same could not be said of the unfortunate cat she'd used to trigger her opponent's sudden transformation. While it wasn't necessarily a physical change, it was clear from the way that the girl acted that there was a psychological one.

"Reow!" the stripped tabby cat managed before Ranma took a swipe at it, shaving the hair off of its back with his glowing white claws. Turning tail the cat wisely ran away.

For her part Storm quickly summoned a fierce wind to propel herself into the air and away from neko-Ranma.

Hissing at the uncomfortable wind and rain combo, the redhead sprang away from the howling winds at the next closest target.

Recovering from his hormonal stupor, Nerd Hulk focused his attention on the redhead even as Captain America pulled himself out of the wrecked car. The sight of the towering green giant being shredded by the busty redheaded girl as she used him as her personal scratching post alarmed the super-soldier. If she was capable of doing that to Nerd Hulk than what could she do to the rest of the team? While the clone wasn't as fearsome as the original, he was still a force to be reckoned with.

Grabbing his shield the symbol of America heaved it at the redhead, seeking to knock the distracted girl out. Clearly expecting to miss the girl at best, and to distract the girl from the mauling she was giving Nerd Hulk, Captain America blinked as Ranma chased after the shield as though it were a toy.

"Water," Rogue shouted as she recalled the redhead's memories, "hot water should snap him out of it. We trigger his transformation back to his true form and he should wake up."

"Should?" Cap asked, clearly skeptical as he grabbed a discarded hubcap and flung it. Again, Neko-Ranma chased after the object, moving further away from the heroes and Cap's shield.

"It's either that or find someone he feels safe around, so that she'll snap him out of it," Rogue explained.

"Plan A," Nerd Hulk interjected as he looked at the various cuts and scrapes that were slowly healing.

_Warm water_, Miya thought as she used telekinesis to levitate a globe of water. Using Firestar's microwave energy to heat up the water slowly, the artificial mutant lifted the water over the small clearing that Ranma was in.

"Jean?" Rogue asked as she spotted the large ball of water.

"That's not me," Marvel Girl replied as she scanned the area for the source of the water.

Just as quickly as it appeared the ball burst, filling the clearing and soaking everyone there.

"Arh!" Rogue's deep voice cried out as her soaking wet uniform adjusted to match her current body.

"REOW!" Ranma's deep, feline voice cried out as he shook the excess water off of himself.

"It didn't work!" Nerd Hulk said, stating the obvious. Grabbing a tire the Hulk clone threw it at Ranma, only to have the now male neko-Ranma shred it with his glowing ki claws.

"Storm, get me some water!" Rogue shouted.

The white haired woman obliged, showering the younger mutant with a sudden storm that transformed the girl back to her true form.

"Thanks," Rogue yelled as she lifted a beat up car (the same one Cap had pulled himself out of) and hurled it at the pigtailed boy.

Leaping into the air Ranma bounced off the car, using it as a spring board as he launched himself at Rogue. Tacking her to the ground he let out a gentle meow.

She didn't know where or why she did it, but Rogue returned his meow with a light hiss as she pulled away from him.

Undeterred, Ranma advanced on her as he meowed again.

"That's not good," Nerd Hulk stated as he buried his head into his hand. Soon the two were both meowing.

"What's not good?" Ironman asked as he helped War Machine into the clearing.

"He's displaying typical feline mating rituals," the smart Hulk clone stated. "Given how powerful and dangerous he was when we were fighting him, it's not a good idea to, um, interrupt their, um, ritual."

"O-kay," Jean said, not sure what the hell was going on. "I can understand why Ranma went all feline on us since we triggered that on him, but why is Rogue, you know?"

Nerd Hulk shook his head. "I think that when our friend was a girl he let out pheromones that suggested he was in heat. Then you forced the transformation, and he picked up on his female body's pheromones. Either that or Rogue's in heat as well, and since she's absorbed some of his memories, she recalls being a cat. But I could be wrong."

No one was sure what to say, everyone simply averted their eyes as Rogue began to yowl.

An angry, red blast of energy hit Nerd Hulk, sending him crashing into Ironman and War Machine. Spinning around Captain America briefly noted the air rushing by him, kicking up debris and forcing him to hide behind his shield. Suddenly the pigtailed boy was gone, leaving only a startled and aroused Rogue on top of the car.

"I knew we forgot something," Jean exclaimed as she finally recalled the artificial mutant that they were chasing.

* * * * *

Miki "Mickey" Mizusawa was not happy. The odd, magical energies that she'd sensed ever since coming to New York were seriously messing with her. The mix of chaos and destruction energies were never good alone, but mixed as they were, well that was just downright dangerous. Despite being one of the world's largest metropolitan cities, New York had somehow managed to attract the former Sorcerer Supreme. Miki wasn't sure if New York had always had so much ambient magical energy, but the amount that she felt now was clearly significant.

The feel of chaotic energy as it suddenly spiked sent a shiver down the experienced young mage's back. Her eyes scanned the horizon, stopping only once she spotted a plume of smoke in the distance. Could her quarry be the source of the disruption? Given what little she'd managed to read of him and his current situation that was very likely.

Conjuring an umbrella, the young mage decided to investigate.

* * * * *

"Let me guess," the usually hot-headed Johnny Storm said as he looked at his new roommate and housemate, "you got your asses handed to you again."

Peter glared at his newest house guest.

"Was it that bad?" the blond asked.

Bobby looked around, making sure that no females were around. "She flashed us her tits and we froze," the master of ice stated. "Then she kicked our asses."

Johnny opened his mouth. For a half moment his mouth stayed open as he sought to say something, anything. Unable to find any words he finally closed his mouth. "She hot?" he finally asked.

Bobby blinked. "You do know that she's supposed to be a guy, right?"

"But she's got tits!" Johnny exclaimed.

"That is just so wrong!" a female voice proclaimed from the top of the stairs.

"Hey Liz," Bobby said with a forced smile as he looked up at Firestar.

Though she was slowly remembering her life before the Ultimatum Wave hit New York, the young mutant was coming to terms with the personal losses she had endured. For six months she'd lived in the streets with vagabond mutants, moving from one desolate building to another as they sought to avoid being caught by anti-mutant hunters seeking to extract some measure of revenge on mutants, as well as from Shield agents trying to force every mutant they encountered to register. The brutal attack on her new friends that had resulted in their deaths as well as the fact that her parents had died during the Ultimatum Wave was a heavy burden for the young woman. Though it helped that she was surrounded by caring and supportive people, the gaping hole in her heart was too raw to just be brushed aside so soon.

It didn't help that the boys were talking about the girl that had killed her friends or that they'd seen her breasts.

The three boys withered under her righteous glare, slowly creeping into the second guest room that had been given to Iceman and the Human Torch.

"It was a dirty trick," Peter grumbled as he looked at the black eye he was now sporting.

"You're just mad that the first pair you actually saw belongs to a guy," Bobby teased.

"I can't believe that she kicked us around like that," the runty boy replied.

"She caught us off guard," taller boy said as he rubbed his stiff jaw. "But you have to admit, if any of the super-villainess had flashed you like that you'd have been caught off guard too."

Though girl-Ranma's breasts had been, well, enticing, and he did have to force them out of his mind, young Peter Parker couldn't help but feel like a chump and loser the way he'd been beaten the two times he'd encountered the busty little redhead. Dissatisfied with his performance, he resolved to correct his mistakes. But the only way to do that was to find a master martial artist. Good thing that he knew two.

* * * * *

There were few times in his long life where the grizzled veteran and experienced military man was unhappy. Standing before all of Congress and the President of the United States was nothing, it was less than nothing; it was a walk in the park. It didn't make him mad or upset, though he was annoyed that the stupid politicians that had appointed him to oversee the Superhero community thought that they could do his job better just because they were elected into their positions. Though a few like Senator McCain had served in the armed forces and even endured hell, most of the pencil necked senators had never gotten into a real fight, not those stupid behind the gymnasium or drunken barroom brawls.

But it was those stupid politicians that were the biggest pain in the neck as they sought to undermine his authority while creating their 'politically correct' world. Didn't they understand that to create that world they needed men like himself? Men who weren't afraid of getting their hands dirty?

Looking down at the video of the new team of Ultimates as they had their asses handed to them, Fury grimaced. How the hell could one little martial artist defeat some of the most powerful super-powered beings so easily? It wasn't like he was using advanced technology or had super powers himself.

"While I understand the position you are in," the President droned on, "I cannot allow you to make this into an international incident."

"Yes, President Obama," the Colonel reluctantly agreed.

"The Emperor of Japan himself has requested that you not pursue or engage his agent," the new President stated. "I didn't pardon you of your crimes just to have you create another international situation. Japan may be decimated, but their surviving super heroes could easily overwhelm the handful of heroes that we and the European Union have left. I don't want this to become a Superhero war."

_Superheroes my ass, _Fury thought_. All they've got are a couple hundred people that are suffering from radiation poisoning as a result of the nukes we dropped on them_.

* * * * *

It was rare for the ancient master and founder of the School of Anything Goes Martial Arts to actually bow to anyone. As a rogue and vagabond he'd never bowed his head, even when captured or confronted by the legions of angry women who believed that he'd stolen their silky delights. But things had changed for the perverted old man ever since he'd accepted the responsibilities of his newest position. Yes, as Sorcerer Supreme even Happosai knew that he needed to pay the proper respects to the Emperor of Japan.

But it had been necessary as the Emperor's assistance would keep Ranma and the others out of trouble, for now. Eventually Ranma would need to work with the others, but for now, he needed to find his own purpose for living.

For now, Happosai would need to gather others that could benefit from his teachings, and those whose abilities would help him as Sorcerer Supreme.

* * * * *

The sound of satisfied purring greeted Ranma as he woke up. Blinking, he tried valiantly to recall what he'd been doing before he'd apparently fallen asleep. Feeling the warmth from the slumbering Miya as she lay curled up beside him, Ranma instinctively tensed, expecting the worst. Not feeling a mallet or hearing an enraged girl accusing him of doing something he hadn't done, the pigtailed boy relaxed.

Maybe, just maybe, he could get used to this new life.

A gentle rapping at the door roused the pigtailed boy, preventing him from drifting back asleep. Pulling himself away from Miya, Ranma rolled off of the shared futon. Noting the absence of his usual red silk shirt, Ranma sighed. He really did love that shirt. It had seen him through so many hard times and vicious fights after all.

Clad only in his black pants the pigtailed martial artist opened the door.

"Ranma Saotome?" the slender girl asked.

Ranma looked her up and down. Slightly taller than he was, she was probably older as well. The power that radiated from her wasn't spiritual or physical, it was… magic? Why the hell would he know that she was radiating magical power?

"Yeah," he finally replied, now fully awake, "who's asking?"

"My name is Miki Mizusawa," the girl said in clearly articulated, proper Japanese. "We go to school together."

Ranma blinked. Something about that statement just sounded wrong. "You're the new girl from Japan, right?" he replied in his less formal Japanese. His time on the road clearly showed as he failed to notice that she was waiting for him to invite her inside.

"Yes, I am," Miki stated. "But I didn't come here because I was just another student at that school."

"Um," the pigtailed boy stumbled for the right words, "you're not engaged to me, are you?"

It was Miki's turn to blink. That was unexpected, but she'd never actually dealt with someone like Ranma before. "No," she finally replied. "The new Sorcerer Supreme sent me with a message. He says that Shield will no longer be coming after you or your companion. He also asks that you and your companion meet with him this weekend at the place where you first encountered Captain America."

Ranma nodded. Happosai had sent her? Well, she wasn't as well endowed as the old pervert generally liked, so maybe she really did come on his behalf. "Fine," he nodded.

"I'll see you in school tomorrow," Miki added before turning around sharply.

* * * * *

"What do you mean we're not to go after them?!" an enraged Zarda exclaimed as she slammed her hands down onto Nick Fury's reinforced desk.

For once the leader of Shield was glad that his desk was laced with vibranium. Though it had seemed like a waste of the precious and durable metal, the idea had proven to be very useful given the number of super-powered heroes who had entered his office wanting to destroy something. Yes, the vibranium fortified desk was proving to be a very good idea.

"They're officially listed as agents of the Japanese Government," Colonel Fury stated as he eyed the battered and beaten superheroes that stood before him. "It's like dealing with the teams from Europe or Canada," he equated. "Think of them as you would anyone from Alpha Flight."

"But they're on American soil," Captain America countered.

"Yes, they are," Fury grimaced. "As such if we need their assistance we can call on them for assistance. Aside from training missions or joint missions, you're not to engage them. He is a Japanese citizen currently residing in the United States; as such he will abide by our laws while retaining his citizenship. Any unprovoked attacks on him by any of you will be taken as an attack upon the Japanese."

Zarda glared at the dark skinned man. Despite her formidable power and strength, even she couldn't muster the needed willpower to stare down the man that led Shield. Still, the tense three minutes felt like an hour to the rest of the heroes that stood in the room with them.

"I'm sure I won't have to repeat any of this," Fury stated as he dared the heroes to challenge his authority.

Captain America's confident nod was all the answer Fury needed as he watched the assembled superheroes file out of his office. With his business with the heroes concluded, Colonel Fury exited the office. The tiny space was fine for the small meetings that he didn't want the rest of his agents to know about, but it also kept him away from the rest of the action.

"Colonel Fury," the agent at the com called out as she noticed the colonel step through the doors to the bridge, "Lambeau base is reporting that they are under attack."

"What forces are close enough to respond?" he asked, unfazed by the news of the attack on one of Shield's secret bases. _Damn Danvers, she left us spread out and unprotected_.

"The Behemoth is five minutes away but isn't equipped for an underwater battle; only the Kafka and Sephiroth are close enough to respond, and the Tidus is currently over the Savage Lands," the bleach blond woman at the com replied.

"Have all three Heli-carriers move to assist," Colonel Fury ordered.

* * * * *

After spending countless days trapped inside the very secure cell inside of one of Shield's Heli-carriers, Kraven the Hunter was glad to be out. It didn't even bother him that he had to look out for the little hellion that the men in green suits had stuck him with.

Dodging several blasts from the handful of Shield Agents in the corridor Kraven crashed through a steel door as he moved to avoid the heavy barrage of fire. The sound of laser fire connecting with flesh and the smell of burnt flesh made the super villain's blood boil as he regained his feet.

"Shit!" he exclaimed as he realized that the girl hadn't followed him into cover.

The scent of blood filled his nose as his enhanced sense of smell picked up the blood that was being spilled outside of the room. But the sounds of laser fire had died down.

Rushing to the door Kraven turned towards the entrenched squad of Shield Agents. Seeing the lithe girl standing over the decapitated corpses of the Shield Agents Kraven shook his head. The girl was good. Too good.

Having fought the Ultimates, Kraven knew good when he saw it; Spider-man was good; Captain America was good, this girl was a totally different kind of good.

Rushing down the corridor, Kraven and the girl cut a bloody swath through the ranks of the Shield Agents.

"We're here," Kraven stated as he eyed the heavily fortified door.

"So we are," the lithe girl stated as she raked her claws over the vibranium door.

"Adamantium," the redheaded Hydra agent stated.

The girl nodded.

"We don't have time," the redhead stated as he pressed his com-link. "A.I.M. forces are quickly approaching our position. Sweep the hallway and keep all the enemies away. Six, take half the squad and take out the power generators, we should be able to bypass the security protocols on the door rather than trying to cut our way through adamantium."

* * * * *

"Ma'am!" a nameless Shield Agent shouted as he handled the com of the mini-Heli-carrier dubbed Behemoth.

"What?!" Commander Danvers shouted as she checked the armaments that the Behemoth carried. Her stay in Antarctica hadn't even started and she was going to see more action than anyone banished to the Shield/Strike base had any right to face. Yes, the Savage Lands had some of the largest vibranium mines outside of Wakanda, but few people in their right mind would bother attacking Lambeau Base on their way to the mines in the Savage Lands. This was clearly not what she was expecting when she'd boarded the Behemoth.

"Commander Evens from Lambeau states that Hydra forces are approaching their holding cells," the bald agent stated.

"Who's attacking?" the blond asked.

"Hydra and A.I.M., ma'am," the muscular man stated, "though they appear to be fighting each other as well as the Shield Agents."

"Contact Colonel Fury," Carol ordered. "Inform all our agents to beware of the armor that the Hydra Agents are using. The armor makes them stronger and tougher, but trip them up and they're easy targets. Use non-lethal weaponry like the foam pellets and have the Lambeau turn on their anti-fire systems. Flood the chambers and hallways that we don't have people in and all non-essential hallways and corridors as well.

"Locate the Hydra transports and hit them with everything that we've got. I want everyone who's capable of using the White Stars suited up ASAP. Once we've chased away the transports the Behemoth will drop to 100 meters and the White Stars are going to drop."

"We're not using the air cycles?"

"Arm all the cycles, I'm going to need all available hands to chase off the transports and their air support," Carol explained.

* * * * *

Despite the fortified doors that held her inside the tiny chamber, the woman known as Betty Ross could hear the sounds of heavy fighting outside of her holding cell. After countless months spent cooped up inside the adamantium fortified cell the powerful woman knew that her freedom was finally at hand. Once free she'd finally have a chance to see the man she loved.

Yes, she would thank her liberators, then she'd rip them in half if they got in her way. Hopefully they were smart enough to not get in her way.

* * * * *

A/N

Betty Ross became the She-hulk during Ultimate Hulk vs Wolverine. She wasn't happy that Fury had sent Wolverine to kill Bruce. The Hulk had gone to India/Tibet and learned to control his rage, but Wolverine shows up and they start a fight. Wolverine get's ripped in half then the She-Hulk (Betty steals the new Hulk serum and uses it on herself) joins the fun. Ultimately Hulk and She-Hulk fight, and reconcile, but Wolverine gets captured by Fury. Fury allows Wolverine to escape, tails him, captures She-Hulk, and uses her as leverage against the Hulk.

That's about where things end up as no one really knows where the She-Hulk is, and like the 616 She-Hulk, Betty can't turn back.

Dreamingfox


	10. Chapter 10

Author's Notes –

Thanks to my new Beta Kariston Draconis. I am still looking for another beta, someone who knows Marvel, in particular the Ultimate universe. But I'm not sweating it that much.

I had considered scouring my manga/anime collection for random heroes to fill up the Japanese roster, but that'll be a different work, eventually. This is Ultimate Ranma, and I'm not going to bother with too many x-overs right now. Yes, that means that Happosai's appearances are going to be limited. I've used him too much in some of my other fics actually. Oh, and no, Ryoga is not going to appear in this fic. Sorry. I like the guy enough, but he's just not going to fit in with things. Again, I use him way to much in my other fics.

Do expect some more Ultimate Marvel characters to pop up, but I'm pretty set on the main cast of this fic centering on Ranma and Peter for now. There might be arcs that focus on other characters, but this fic is primarily about Ranma's new adventures.

* * * * *

The sound of laser fire ran through the secret instillation as Hydra and its sub-branch known as A.I.M. fought their way through the handful of Shield agents and each other. Outnumbered and outgunned, the remaining Shield agents slowly retreated towards the central corridors.

"They want us to flood all non-essential corridors?" the acting commander shouted as she fired several rounds of her laser rifle at the still squabbling invaders at the other end of the corridor.

"Yes ma'am," the veteran on the com confirmed.

Jennifer Walters was not happy. Not only had she been arrested for falsely selling the Super-Soldier serum (though she had been purchasing an illegal bootleg of Star Wars from a Chinese dealer) she'd been shipped to Lambeau to deal with the new Super-Soldier program, working specifically with the real traitor, Betty Ross.

"Just as we were about to crack the catalyst that Ross used too," the tall brunette grumbled.

"Ma'am?" the bald agent at the com replied.

"Nothing," Jennifer grumbled as she stood up and discharged her rifle, nailing an A.I.M. soldier. "Flood the corridors."

"Yes ma'am. Flood the corridors," he repeated as he relayed the orders.

"Why the hell am I acting commander?" Jennifer mumbled as she pulled a special grenade out of her pack. "Retreat!"

The three Shield agents happily obliged as they rushed into the adjoining corridor. Slipping behind the door, the brunette pulled the pin. Throwing the special grenade into the knee deep water she hit the control panel for the door, forcing it shut. Taking several steps back she heard the grenade go off. The icy residue that formed on the door told her all she needed to know about the effectiveness of the grenade. Hopefully that would by her forces enough time for the re-enforcements to arrive.

"Johnson's out," the bald agent stated. "We need to get him to the infirmary."

"The infirmary's flooded," Walters stated. "We need to get to Lab 77."

"The Super-Soldier lab?"

"They must be after the serum," the acting commander stated. As the highest ranking officer it didn't matter that she was a scientist first, and a field agent last, it was her duty to protect the base's secrets. Though adamantium processing was one of Lambeau Base's primary functions, it was also the home to the current Weapon XII program which included the super soldier serum that Betty Ross had perfected for herself and for Betty Ross, a.k.a. the She-Hulk.

"They've already got all that tech, and now they want the serum?" the bald agent grunted as he carried his unconscious companion.

"First we get banished to Antarctica, now this," Agent Smith grunted. "Somebody hates us."

"Shut up," Walters shouted. "We need to get to Lab 77. We're outmanned and outgunned. Their tech is giving them an advantage over us. If we head to the lab we can tend to our injured and use the mass produced R.H.I.N.O. armors to repel the invaders."

* * * * *

"Ma'am, word from Lambeau is that they're down to only a dozen or so active agents," the agent at the com said, informing the former acting director of Shield and now commander of the Behemoth. "They're gathering in Lab 77. It's the most fortified position in the entire base."

"What were they working on in Lab 77?" Carol Danvers asked. Though she was supposed to be providing Lambeau Base with support, she had yet to read the entire file on the secret base.

"Lab 77 was working on the Weapon XII project."

The blond blinked. "Lambeau Base is working on the Weapon project?"

"Part of it ma'am, the specifics are classified so I'm not sure which part they were working on."

Damn, it's Antarctica, it has to be something major, the blond surmised. "Get me Agent Zero, now!"

It didn't take long for the lone mutant on board to appear, after all, teleporting was his specialty. Even with his inhibitor collar the pale skinned mutant could cover short distances. But with a commander's authority Zero could travel greater distances, enough to get down to the continental shelf. There was a reason why he was banished to Antarctica after all as he was an unstable element with questionable loyalties. But stuck in the tiny Behemoth and in Antarctica limited his options severely.

"If you're going to teleport directly into Lambeau Base you're going to need a pressurized suit, ma'am," the lone Strike Agent, Agent Williams suggested. "They are technically on the bottom of the ocean after all."

"How many captured suits did we bring with us?" the blond asked.

"Six."

"Have five more agents suit up; we'll 'port down to Lab 77 once everyone's suited up," she ordered.

* * * * *

In a past life the fiery redhead had been a no body. Well, technically she was still a no body. As one of the many nameless agents employed by A.I.M. the once nerdy and geeky girl had a chance to vent her rage against the unfair world. Though she still lacked the super-powers that she dreamed of, the advanced technology that she was equipped with by A.I.M. gave her sufficient strength and durability, and the plasma rifle, well, that gave her the ability to wreck some revenge against the world.

After all, it wasn't her fault that she wasn't stacked like a busty, leggy supermodel. Hell, she would have been happy being on the Cheerleading squad back in high school.

But no, she was mildly athletic, but not overly so, and she lacked the figure and curves of that the more popular girls had. And it wasn't her fault that she was the only one who dared to join Hydra, and then left when the first Madam Hydra had been busted during the failed attempt to take over Stark Towers. Well, she wasn't the only one, but she had been the only female that had joined the upstart A.I.M. The lone girl among a sea of geeky and disenfranchised men and she still failed to attract any attention from someone with a Y chromosome.

As the only person wearing A.I.M.'s distinctive yellow uniform, a uniform that made everyone who looked at her think that she was just one of the boys, Mary MacPherran was definitely attracting a lot of attention, though not the right kind.

"DIE!" she shouted as she blasted away at the green suited Hydra agents behind her.

Yes, she always wanted attention, but this was definitely not the kind she wanted.

Sloshing through the water ankle deep water she somehow managed to dodge the return fire. Turning a corner she hoped that her semi-athletic past would allow her to survive the very ill-advised attack on Shield's stupid Lambeau Base.

Lost and separated from her squad, well, what was left of her squad, the redhead dashed down the corridor.

* * * * *

"This is not good," Agent Smith grumbled as he sedated Agent Johnson. "We've closed off almost all the corridors but they're still advancing. At this rate we'll be overrun before any back up arrives."

"Keep your cool Agent," Jennifer ordered as she looked at the display. It was just as Agent Smith had said; Shield and Strike forces were being overrun. "We've managed to buy some time by flooding all non-essential corridors but A.I.M. is equipped for an underwater battle and so is Hydra. The freeze bombs have managed to keep them at bay, but we're running low on ammo."

"Tell me something I don't know," Agent Smith grumbled.

"I'm going to have to use this," the scientist turned soldier said, slowly convincing herself of the need to use the untested serum on herself.

"With all due respect ma'am," the muscular agent objected, "as the ranking officer you shouldn't be testing it on ourself."

Jen nodded, "True, but this formula is designed for a woman. As the only woman here, well, I'm the obvious candidate."

* * * * *

"They've flooded the corridors," the bald Hydra agent at the com stated.

"I can see that," the current Madam Hydra grumbled. "What of the traitors?"

"They're advancing on one of the labs as well as the command center," the second helmsman explained.

"Keep them from salvaging anything," the green haired woman ordered. "I'd rather Shield and Strike keep things than letting those traitors get anything of use."

* * * * *

A wave of pain coursed through her body as her body adapted to the untested serum. Muscles fiber was ripped apart only to be rebuilt stronger. Bones and tendons were strengthened and fortified, increasing her durability and toughness. Every cell was rebuilt, improving her even as it sent unbelievable pain through her body.

Suddenly it was all over.

"Ma'am, are you alright?"

Jennifer nodded shakily even as she fought to get to her feet. "Yeah," she finally replied, noting her deeper voice. "What's the situation?"

"Hydra's content to pin us down here," Agent Smith informed her. "A.I.M. forces are going after the adamantium processing center on the bottom level but are trying to hack the door. It also appears as though the Hydra forces are going after She-Hulk. They're trying to hack the door as well, but it appears as though Hydra and A.I.M. are interfering with each other's attempts to force the doors."

"Give me the schematics of this floor and the one above," the energized scientist and soldier ordered.

* * * * *

There was an obvious reason why Peter wore his mask, well, why he wore the Spider-man mask. Yes, it was great at protecting his identity, and great for picking up chicks too, but the second, well third reason why he wore the mask was because he wasn't a great actor. Sure, he could still crack jokes and puns, but he just couldn't act.

Watching the pigtailed boy that was supposed to have handed him his ass the past couple of days as the Japanese boy sat with him and Kitty (another victim of Ranma's supposed attacks) as though nothing happened was slowly eating at the young genius. How the hell could Ranma be enemies with someone moment and then be best friends the next?

Then again, Ranma wasn't doing anything but sitting beside Kong. Well, he was staring down anyone who dared to throw something at Kitty or at the group as they sat around the school's resident mutant.

Had Ranma really been brainwashed? Could that alone explain why he appeared so social at school yet was a serious threat outside of it?

"Something wrong Peter?" a rather icy Gwen asked.

Normally the blond would be seated right next to her boyfriend, normally. Today definitely wasn't normal.

"Yeah, what's up with you two?" Ranma asked as he glanced at the separated couple. "You two usually exemplify the Japan's view of Americans, yet today…"

"Japan's view of Americans?" MJ asked.

"What's the term…? Public Displays of Affection?"

Kong snickered.

_Scratch that, he's not acting like a friend at all, he's rubbing it in_, Peter thought as he tried to make eye contact with his girlfriend.

"He's right," a new voice interjected.

Everyone looked up, only to find Flash Thompson and his cadre of jocks.

"You two are usually all over each other, acting like a pair of love-struck brother and sister," the jock added.

Ranma glanced at Peter, then Gwen, then back to Peter. "Maybe I lost something in the translation, but was that a rip on you two?"

"He's referring to the fact that we live together, under the same roof," Gwen said, informing the pigtailed boy of the supposed inside joke.

"Still don't get it," Ranma added.

"They're living like brother and sister but are making out like…" one of the jocks muttered, trying to explain the joke only to have Peter stand up.

"Still don't get it," Ranma stated as he shook his head. "Man, Americans really are meat-heads. Well, not all of them," he turned to Peter and the others. "Just the jocks. It is jocks right?"

Kong nodded.

"No wonder they say that jocks have heads like rocks, or something like that," the pigtailed boy replied.

Before any of his subordinates could act, Flash held out his arm. Clearly he'd learned something from the debacle the other day. "We're not here to start trouble," Flash announced. "I'm here to speak with Ranma."

"No," the pigtailed boy replied. "I'm not gonna help you score with Miki."

"Miki?" Gwen asked.

"The new girl from Japan," MJ answered.

"Why else would the alpha jock come to the little Japanese guy that he doesn't like?" Kitty smirked.

"How?" Flash gasped.

"I caught you stealing glances at her," Ranma explained. "No, she's not my type, but no, I'm not going to help you. I don't do well with helping people with relationships, heck, I'm more prone to wrecking relationships. So, my best advice is for you to stay as far away from me as possible if you really like her."

Everyone looked at the pigtailed boy skeptically.

"So is that why…?" Mary Jane said, leaving the rest of the question unsaid.

"Things happen," Peter offered. Living a double life like he did, he was an expert at people walking in on him at the wrong time and misinterpreting things. "Doesn't mean it's what you think happened."

"Wait," Gwen interjected, "if you're bad for relationships, why are you around us?"

Ranma blinked. Quickly glancing between the feuding Peter and Gwen, the pigtailed boy paused, "Am I part of your relationship?"

* * * * *

Rogue couldn't help but feel a bit sick. It wasn't the food, which was bad even for military standards, nor was it the fact that she and the rest of the superheroes had had their butts handed to them two days in a row. No, it was the knowledge that she'd nearly done the horizontal lambada with the man/boy that had beaten her and her friends up. Granted, it wasn't like he was abusive or anything, they just weren't sure which side he was on.

No, it was the fact that she'd been physically violated. True, she hadn't been in control of herself when it had happened, and neither was he apparently. But… well, there just wasn't any way you could spin the situation as there just wasn't a bright side or silver lining in this case.

"Actually," Jean said, interrupting Marian's inner thoughts, "there is a bright side to this."

Rogue's head slumped down.

"I didn't need my telepathy to know what you're thinking," the redhead stated. "The look on your face says it all."

Rogue glared at her former teammate.

"It doesn't help that both Ironman and War Machine recorded what little they saw of the incident," the younger mutant stated. "Ah'm never going to look at cats the same way. Not only do Ah turn into a guy when Ah get splashed with hot water, now Ah'm gonna go act like a cat when Ah'm around one too long."

"We don't know how long you'll retain those, um, powers," Jean said as she tried to console the younger woman.

"This is just wrong," the brunette grumbled. "Ah am so gonna kick his sorry ass the next time Ah see him."

Storm chuckled. "It does surprise me that you gained a form of his curse, as well as some of his memories, yet did not acquire his skills. And then there is the fact that you can now touch him. If one were to believe in a higher being one might think that this is fate."

"You're perfect together," Jean teased. "Now you can both get in a hot shower together or go for a nice dip in the river or ocean."

Rogue, trembling with righteous fury, stood up. "Ah am so gonna kick your asses!"

* * * * *

Ranma was a man amongst men. As such, there were a few things that he didn't like doing. Though his father had taught him the Crouch of the Wounded Tiger, there were only a few people that he had ever had to use that move on, and none of them were alive.

Yet despite his recent sins, the proud martial artist just couldn't bring himself to use that move, not to someone he barely knew. And of course there was the fact that he really didn't know where she lived. Having lost the Juggernaut's mutant sensor there were few leads for the pigtailed youth to take.

Despite his speed, Ranma knew that he couldn't follow Kitty, especially as she phased through various walls, floors, and ceilings to get away from him. Still, the brunette wasn't great against a determined pursuer such as Ranma. Not to mention that he had her address as well. That always made things easier.

But it didn't matter. Ranma knew that he wasn't ready to prostrate himself before the brunette, and he really didn't want to do it before the large boy that usually accompanied her. No, now was not the right time for various reasons.

* * * * *

There were times when young Peter Parker really wanted to redesign his mask. Sure, it kept his enemies from seeing his eyes, and it didn't obstruct his breathing, but it did make it all the harder to get something to eat. That design flaw did keep him from making too much of a mess on his costume, unless of course he got thrown into the dumpster or a food stand.

Clinging to the wall as he was though, he couldn't help but wonder if maybe he could redesign his mask.

"You're holding those wrong," the long haired man standing beneath him suggested. "Your grip is all wrong and you're using the wrong fingers. I can't believe you managed to jump around the city and yet you can't hold chopsticks."

"Just get me a fork," the masked vigilante grumbled as he set the wooden utensils down.

The raven haired man smirked, shaking his head as he tossed the web-slinger a pair of plastic utensils. "So why are you in Chinatown again? I know that our General Tsu's chicken is good, and a lot of people come here for it, but this is the first roof-top delivery I've had to make. But since it's you I'll make an exception."

"Thanks Shang-Chi, you're the best," the masked hero stated as he ripped open the plastic cover on the spork.

"I can't give this meal to you for free though," the master martial artist stated. "Twelve fifty-seven."

Spider-man froze, "Seriously? After everything we've been through together?"

Shang-Chi simply stared at him.

"I left my money in my other outfit," Spidy said. "I'll pay you back next time."

The raven haired man smiled. "So why are you here?"

"You remember how you promised that you'd show me some moves way back when?"

"And I taught you the White Ape attack," the shrewd martial artist retorted.

"You know how Ironfist does his thing where he can rip through a door with a single punch?"

"Yeah?"

"It drains him though, doesn't it?" Digging into his order Spider-man took a sporkful of food.

"Yeah."

"Is it possible for him to do it all the time?"

"No," another voice cut in. "I can't do it all the time. It takes a lot of training and focus to produce one powerful punch, and depending on how powerful the attack it can severely drain me."

"Danny, what are you doing here?" Spider-man asked as he set his spork down and grabbed the soda.

"You know you can stand or sit like a normal person, right?" the man also known as Ironfist asked.

"Nah," the youth replied, "that'd ruin the whole 'spider' mystique.

"So you finally ran into a martial artist that got the drop on you," Shang-Chi said with a slight smile.

"He didn't get the drop on me, he kicked my ass!" Spider-man exclaimed. "He didn't just kick my ass, he beat up the Ultimates, twice, and whatever's left of the X-men, twice. He ripped up a clone of the Hulk."

Danny Rand blinked. "You're sure he's normal?"

"That does sound unbelievable," Shang-Chi added.

"Other than turning into a girl when he gets splashed with water? Yeah; totally normal and a master at martial arts that went berserk when a cat was put into his face."

Danny froze. "Neko-ken."

"What's that?" Spider-man asked as he noted the frightened look on the master martial artist's face.

"The ultimate technique," Shang-Chi elaborated. "It's supposed to be unattainable."

"Or to make the user go insane," the blond martial artist added.

"Just what do they do to make them go insane?" an intrigued Spider-man asked.

"They fill a pit with cats," the raven haired man said grimly.

"That's not so bad."

"Then they take the subject, tie fish sausages to him, and throw him into the pit with the cats," Danny finished.

"If that doesn't work, and it usually doesn't, they get tied down with catnip and the process is repeated until the subject finally masters the technique," Shang-Chi stated, suppressing a shudder.

"Man, and I thought turning into a girl was bad," Spider-man grumbled as he shoved another sporkful of food into his mouth.

"This I gotta see," the blond master martial artist said as he shook his head skeptically.

"That's not normal at all," Shang-Chi added.

"You should have seen Rogue as a guy," the masked hero deadpanned.

* * * * *

In the time that the grizzled veteran had been in command, hell, in the time that he'd enlisted as a soldier, Colonel Nick Fury knew that there were good days and that there were bad days. With every battle there were small victories and defeats, regardless of the overall outcome.

The fact that Lambeau base had been attacked was definitely a bad thing, as was the loss of over two dozen Strike and Shield Agents. But if anyone could turn the situation around it was fury. Yes, Nick Fury was excellent at making negatives into positives and turning loses into victories. Hopefully the two newest additions could help fill out the Ultimates.

"What's your assessment on their abilities?" he asked his lone companion.

"They're strong, but nothing I couldn't handle," the bald man stated.

"Few people can match your strength," the colonel retorted.

"True," the taller man replied. "Ms. Marvel, as you've dubbed her, is strong, but we've yet to reach the upper limits of her full potential. She's a capable flier, but some more training with Ironman and War Machine should help her get the finer points down. She appears to be very durable, and her ability to absorb energy seems to help increase her physical strength as well, which is why we don't know her the full extent of her strength."

Fury nodded.

"Walters is stronger and faster than Cap, but she's a thinker like me, not a natural fighter like he is; still, with enough training she should exceed him in no time."

"You're fine with your cousin doing what she did?"

"She's not _my_ cousin. But compared to what Ms. Ross it's nothing," Nerd Hulk stated.

"No, she's not your cousin Robert, but she in a manner of speaking she is," Fury said coolly.

"I'm just a clone Colonel," Robert replied.

"No, you're not just a clone Robert; you're a clone of the Hulk and you have the mind of Robert Bruce Banner. You have all of his power and control as well as his memories. But regardless of your restraint, you know that you have his faults as well. I just want to make sure that you're up for the task that's ahead."

"You want the Ultimates to take former acting director Danvers and Ms. Walters to apprehend the She-Hulk and the self-proclaimed Titania," Robert concluded.

"I want them on point," Fury stated. "If they powers prove to be unstable, than I want the Ultimates to complete the job. We're going to get the She-Hulk, Kraven, the Weapon Plus subject, and Titania from Hydra. We can't let them keep the results of those programs."

The monster known as Robert nodded.

"Oh, and I'm going ask the Japanese for some assistance," Fury added.

* * * * *

A/N

I think I'll just leave things where they're at for now.

Please Read and Review.

Dreamingfox


	11. Chapter 11

Author's Notes –

Sorry for the seemingly long gap between updates. I'm sure some of you have noticed that I've updated some of my other fics that have not had as much love from me lately. Yeah, I'm trying to balance the updating on the four fics but my writing seems to write itself at times, and when that happens I tend to just go with the flow of the writing. But I'm back, sort of.

* * * * *

It was odd. That was the best way Ranma could describe the way he felt about being back on the Shield Helicarrier. Surrounded as he was by the various super-heroes, some of whom he'd beaten up not too long ago and most of whom were wearing masks or costumes, and the somewhat intimidating head of Shield was odd too. It almost felt like the many voluptuous women were expecting something out of him, which was never good as women tended to want only one thing out of him… well, maybe a few things out of him, but that was never good… especially if it was Akane and cooking had been involved.

Never one to apologize, the pigtailed martial artist calmly stood in the midst of the super-powered heroes, not even daring to mention their past run-ins. Having fought many of the people he considered his friends and peers regularly the pigtailed youth simply thought nothing of the fact that those same people could go from trying to beat him up and even kill him to completely sociable and even friendly, even while they conspired against him. Compared to that, standing among the various heroes was almost normal.

Absently listening to the briefing he stole casual glances at the assembled costumed figures – Storm, Marvel Girl, Rogue, Ben Grim, Nerd Hulk, Ironman, War Machine, Captain America, Hawkeye, Spyder, Zarda, Black Widow, and the Wasp were all recognizable, but the two new women, Ms. Marvel and U.S. Agent, they were mysteries.

"The Hydra base itself is unknown," Fury stated as he finally finished describing the layout of the land around the hidden base. "But considering that it's Hydra you can expect the doors to be fitted with rental scanners. Entry points are probably here, here and here, and the launch bay is here."

Ranma listened as Fury explained the plan of having the Ultimates, Ms. Marvel, and U.S. Agent distract the bulk of the Hydra Agents while the handful of X-men and Ranma infiltrated through a secondary entry. Listening to his role in the whole affair, Ranma paged through a bad American comic. No wonder the west thought that cartoons and comics were for kids.

* * * * *

Rogue couldn't help but glare at the pigtailed boy as he carelessly paged through the comic. Everything about him irritated her. His casualness and inability to take anything seriously, his disregard for authority, his arrogant confidence, and how he refused to apologize to them for what he'd done to them all… and to her. She hated the fact that he somehow passed on his curse to her.

Glaring at the overconfident martial artist she continued to listen to the briefing.

Yes, Ranma was off limits, but that didn't mean she couldn't set him up to fail.

* * * * *

Jean had a headache.

There were times when Jean Grey hated being the 'foremost' and 'most powerful' telepath in the world. Today was one of those moments.

It didn't take a powerful telepath to tell what Rogue was thinking, the invisible daggers that she threw at Ranma were enough to raise the tension in the entire briefing room. Yet somehow the mysterious martial artist was completely ignorant and unaffected by the venomous looks that she was giving him.

Oh, if only the same could be said of what she was feeling and sensing from her clearly upset teammate.

Yes, she'd definitely have to talk with Rogue about her attitude towards the once brain-washed martial artist. And perhaps with Storm as well. It was the older woman's fault that Rogue was so irritated by Ranma after all.

* * * * *

Having spent so much time with and around high level martial artists Ranma was used to traveling at a martial artists' pace. True, they were in the mountains, but he was used to traveling through the wilderness at a quick pace as necessary.

Unfortunately he wasn't traveling with other martial artists at the time. Yes, they were super-powered, but they lacked the finesse, dexterity and skill to move through the forest quickly and silently. If not for the special stealth suits that the X-ladies were wearing Ranma was sure that they would have triggered several of the automated defenses.

Seriously, how could you miss a metal tree? Especially when all the animals avoided the tree and when there were piles of dead birds scattered around it. Clearly it was some sort of anti-air system designed to take out fliers, and birds.

"That's our entrance," Ranma suggested as he pointed to an obvious air vent. Yes, geniuses could be total idiots.

"But Fury wanted us to enter through the hidden entrance up there," Rogue pointed to the cliff in the distance.

"Sure, you can enter up there if you want to, but at the rate that you girls are going we're going to be late," Ranma retorted.

"We'd get there if we flew," Rogue grumbled.

"Yeah, and then you'd trigger the automated defenses and draw attention to our little group as well," the pigtailed boy stated as he pointed out the dead birds. "Clearly you capes are stronger than you are smart."

"What was that ya little runt?" Rogue shouted even as Jean and Storm moved to restrain her from assaulting their current teammate.

"I think the air's getting to your head," Ranma shot back. "Or not in your case."

Unable to hold her powerful teammate back, Jean crumbled to the ground as the mental strain overwhelmed her.

Charging ahead Rogue threw a powerful overhead right at the shorter boy. Skillfully catching her powerful fist, Ranma fell back and rolled as he planted his left knee into Rogue's stomach while using his right foot to pivot as he sent the young mutant flying, right into the cover of the air vent. The thin aluminum gave way to the powerful mass that collided with it, sending the mutant into the dark depths of the air shaft.

"I guess she wanted to go in first," Ranma stated as he jumped to his feet quickly. Nimbly he rushed in after Rogue, leaping feet first into the gaping maw of the air vent.

* * * * *

The woman once known as Jennifer Walters was impressed. Not only had her formula vindicated her from the false accusations that Betty Ross had leveled at her, but it also had given her the new, powerful body that she now had. True, she wasn't as strong as the Hulk or She-Hulk, but she was nearly a match for Captain America. Unfortunately all her data had been destroyed in the fight in Lambeau base, but she was confident that she could recreate the formula to work on others eventually.

But that wasn't her primary concern right now. Watching as Captain America flung his shield at the group of Hydra agents before them she noted how the man somehow managed to get his shield to return to his hands after ricocheting of the chest of some wayward Hydra agent.

Though she was slowly getting the hang of her new, stronger body, the former scientist knew that one day she would be on par with the original super-soldier. But until then she would have to settle for simply stealing the shield from a Hydra agent and bashing him over the head with it.

Besides, despite her newly acquired strength and endurance, it was her brains and intellect that were her greatest assets. Although she did have a great ass as well now; what woman didn't want a nice ass and full, perky breasts?

* * * * *

Rogue wanted to shout. She wanted to yell. Falling down a vertical shaft in nearly complete darkness tended to do that to a person.

Yet just as she opened her mouth to shout she felt a weight hit her, knocking the air out of her lungs. The sound of air escaping her mouth was quickly stopped though as a firm hand clamped down on her mouth.

"Wow," a familiar yet very annoying voice said. "Don't scream and I'll let you go."

Ignoring his request she licked his hand.

"Ew," he exclaimed, pulling his hand away from her mouth. "That's so disgusting." Wiping his wet hand on her hair he slowly twisted once again. Spreading his arms out he barely touched the edge of the shaft, slowing his descent.

"You bastard," she cursed.

"I'll have you know that my parents were legally married before I was conceived. By the way, if you want to slow down, you might want to flatten out and reach out for the edge of the vent; though with your thick skull you could easily make it through the fan that's coming up."

Rogue growled even as she reached out and touched the cool metal. Unsure if she would be able to endure colliding with the vent's fan she hoped that Ranma had a plan. She'd definitely get back at him for this.

* * * * *

Madam Hydra was happy. Not only had Hydra's raid on Shield and Strike's Lambeau Base been successful, but they had managed to acquire two subjects who had been injected with the Super Soldier serum. True, the She-Hulk was nearly as vicious as her former lover, but the other subject, the one dubbed Titania, she was just as strong, if not stronger. True, her transformation had been unstable and unpredictable at first, but the use of the special nano-bots had helped stabilize her body as well as allowing Hydra to control the former A.I.M. agent.

With the two super-powered women in her control Hydra would be a force to be reckoned with. But that wasn't enough. No, once they perfected the female Super Soldier formula she could create an army of the super-strong women. Such an army would be unstoppable.

"Ma'am," a nameless Hydra agent said as the alarms came on. "We're under attack."

"Obviously," the green haired woman replied. "Can you tell me who's attacking us?"

"It's the Ultimates," the unfortunate agent answered. "Shield and Strike agents are backing them up, but it's primarily the Ultimates."

"And where are they attacking us?"

"They're forcing their way through the hanger bay."

"Have all available forces fortify the main passage," the woman ordered. "We can't afford to lose She-Hulk or Titania until we've managed to extract enough of the serum from both of them. Have She-Hulk and Titania ready for transport. Have X-23 and the Hunters accompany me. We'll take the hidden underground shuttle, have everyone else evacuate to site 77. Oh, and have Kraven deployed to defend the hanger bay."

* * * * *

"Look what you did to us," Rogue grumbled as she fumbled around in the darkness.

Having broken through the slowly rotating fan the quartet of supposedly stealthy individuals found themselves in a dark tunnel.

"Hey, we were tasked with trying to infiltrate the place unnoticed, and well, no one seems to know that we're here," Ranma retorted.

"So where are we?" Storm asked from behind the younger mutant.

"It looks like we're in a tunnel, almost feels like a transport tunnel," the pigtailed boy answered.

"So they have another way out of their stronghold," Jean concluded. "I wonder where it heads to?"

"That's probably for Shield to find out," the martial artist shrugged.

Though the redhead usually didn't like to read the minds of the people that she was deployed on a mission with, she just couldn't help but read the surface thoughts of the young man before her. Having fought him twice in the past week she and the others had been reluctant to accept that he had been asked to assist them with their current mission.

Having previously delved into his mind before though, she was reluctant to do anything beyond reading his surface thoughts. Yet even that had been, well, unusual. Most young men that were trying to kill them often thought of how they were going to kill them, yet Ranma hadn't been like that. He truly seemed to enjoy, even thrive as he fought them in what they took as a life or death situation during both previous encounters. And working with them as he was, he had shown great restraint as he did not try to imagine the women naked as so many others did. Hell, even Spider-man still did that occasionally, though the skin-tight outfits that they wore and their naturally curvy bodies did seem to make it easy for any hormonal teenage boy to make that leap. Then again, Ranma really wasn't your typical teenage boy. Not only had he apparently dedicated his entire life to his 'art', but he also turned into a girl. That, more than anything, probably shifted his view of the fairer sex; just as it was changing Rogue outlook on the world now that she occasionally turned into a guy.

No, what she wanted to know was if he was sorry for his actions. If he wasn't than perhaps he did harbor some resentment towards either the Americans or towards mutants and the brainwashing or reprogramming had been minor enough to not change his personality, merely just enough to provoke him to act out when he normally might not have. Or was he just the type who enjoyed fighting?

Unfortunately Ranma appeared to be very hard to read. Most people seemed to think of one thing, especially when they were on the job, yet Ranma was clearly not like normal people. And it wasn't as though he had many tangent thoughts running through his mind either. No, Ranma was devoid of surface thoughts. Once he analyzed something he had his mind and body set/programmed. If something came up that changed the situation he quickly analyzed the situation and readjusted to adapt. No wasted thoughts seemed to float through his mind, a testament to his many years of training and dedication to his art.

In that regard he was very much like and yet very different from Logan. Both were trained and fairly disciplined, though Ranma clearly was on another level. Logan was renowned for being savage and feral, acting on instinct rather than thinking things through. They were so similar yet so different.

As though to prove her assessment Ranma stopped as something new changed the situation and a bright light appeared in the up ahead.

"Looks like we were in the right place at the right time," Ranma stated as he spotted several shadowy figures approaching. "Or in the wrong place at the wrong time - one or the other."

* * * * *

Not too long ago former Acting Director of Shield Carol Danvers would have condemned all the so-called super heroes as being nothing more than glorified adrenaline junkies. Actually, not much changed since she had apparently gained her own powers. Sure, not all of the spandex clad individuals were adrenaline junkies – Captain America was definitely a man who strongly believed in his country and what his country stood for – but some clearly were.

Wearing their respective masks to protect their civilian identities, they were able to do things publicly that their civilian alter-egos couldn't; almost like how the anonymity of the internet made those stupid hackers who posted clearly photo-shopped pictures of the many super-heroines nude on the internet. Well, maybe they did have incentive to keep the posts anonymous as those women could do unspeakable things to them should they ever find out who was posting those doctored images of them online. Still, the internet seemed to embolden those brazen hackers who had somehow managed to post those images while also protecting their identities.

Imagining that each of the unfortunate masked men in green outfits was one of those anonymous hackers, the woman dubbed 'Ms. Marvel' vented her frustrations. Even as the Acting Director of Shield she'd not been able to get the many tech-savvy agents hunt down the anonymous hackers that had posted those clearly doctored pictures of her on the internet. Yes, it wasn't a matter of national security, but it did affect the moral of the women working in Shield as even they weren't safe from sexual harassment.

Slamming her fist into the chest of an armored Hydra agent, she felt the armor break and his ribs crack as she sent him flying. A powerful blast of plasma hit her square in her 36D's, not even singing her newly made outfit that clung to her new assets. Though she was unused to her newly found powers, she knew that the blast wouldn't hurt her, though it did bring her attention to the unfortunate Hydra agent with the smoking plasma rifle. Slapping the weapon aside she grabbed the startled man by the scruff edge of his chest plate. Having absorbed the energy of the plasma blast she threw the man aside, knocking down several more Hydra agents. Even without the plasma energy enhancing her muscles Ms. Marvel knew that she was strong enough to at least go a few rounds with Nerd Hulk (and possibly with the real Hulk as well). Still, knowing and showing her newfound abilities and strengths were two different things. Too bad for the poor Hydra agents that she was sent here to test her abilities against them.

Another plasma blast hit her exposed back, not even disturbing her long golden locks. Feeling the excess energy coursing through her body she flexed her muscles even as she turned around to address the new threat. The burst of energy that escaped her though was a surprise to her and everyone around her as the excess energy was redirected towards all the Hydra agents around her, knocking them over and overloading their weapons.

"Hmm," Robert 'Nerd Hulk' exclaimed as he slammed his huge fists into the ground. "That's an interesting ability. We'll definitely have to study that later."

Rising up into the air, the blond heroine's smile never left her face as she focused on the overwhelmed Hydra agents beneath her – maybe there was something to being a masked heroine.

* * * * *

"I gotta ask," the pigtailed boy said as he weaved and bobbed, nimbly avoiding the many green armored figures that filled the underground passage, "how long do you guys actually train to fight in those monkey suits? I mean, seriously, you couldn't hit the broadside of a barn in those things. Do those outfits even help?"

Slipping under a glowing mace, Ranma swept the feet out from under an unfortunate chump, just in time for the unfortunate agent to be hit with a blast of plasma from another agent. Ever the expert on dealing with overwhelming numbers, Ranma simply moved on from one opponent to the next slowly, whittling down the numbers against him.

"Somebody shut him up!" a green haired woman shouted.

Absently looking at the woman even as he dodged another blast of plasma, Ranma shook his head. "You guys are… what's the word… pussy-whooped. I think that's the phrase. Though I'm not completely sure since my command of American English is kinda, well, weak." A swift kick to the face sent an armored figure flying. "At least I'm not as weak as you losers though." Ducking under a diagonal strike Ranma casually grabbed another Hydra agent's arm, forcing him into the path of the glowing mace. "Even with that armor you guys can't do anything. Are you sure it's turned on or that you've got fully charged packs? Maybe it's defective?" Pulling the shield away from another agent he flung it in a modest attempt to imitate Captain America, bowling over several armored fighters and leaving a clear path to the woman with green hair.

"Titania, take care of that loud mouthed lout," Madam Hydra ordered as she shot at Storm who gracefully flew out of the way even as she blasted the room with cold, arctic winds. "X-23, take care of the X-men."

As commanded the two titanic women moved to engage their assigned targets.

"What was your name?" Ranma asked as he ducked under a vicious overhead right that would have probably taken his head off. "Titanic? Like the cruise ship?" Ducking under another punch, he danced around her. Landing on a Hydra agent he looked her in eye as she turned around. Kicking off of the stunned figure he launched himself over Titania. "You know, they made that movie about it; the one where that rich chick hooks up with that poor guy who dies for her when the ship sinks – that's Titanic, right?"

Out of the corner of his eye Ranma noticed how difficult the X-men, er, woman, seemed to be handling their nimble little hostess. Grabbing a mace from one of the many unconscious Hydra agents, Ranma flipped through the air before throwing the charged up weapon at the wild looking girl. Not expecting to hit her, he simply bought the X-men a brief respite, allowing them to gather themselves as they reconsidered their options against the clawed girl.

Landing on top of another Hydra agent, Ranma liberated him of his mace and shield. Kicking the armored figure into his companions, the pigtailed boy threw the mace at the ceiling. Rolling under another right-left combo by the towering woman, Ranma caught the mace and threw it at the ceiling again.

Standing up he bobbed and weaved, easily avoiding her powerful punches as he waited for the mace to descend, right on to the powerful woman's head, knocking her off balance.

"Argh!" she shouted, shrugging off the blow.

"So you can talk," Ranma teased. "I thought you were just another pretty face or just some meat head, but I guess you can talk."

"Shut up!" Titania growled.

"Well," Ranma replied as he spun around another haymaker, "if you can talk why not talk?" he suggested as he slipped past her guard. "Not with your fists, but, with your words," he added.

"Shut up!"

Weaving inside her guard he smiled. "You already said that," he egged on. "Pretty girl like you should be able to say more than that."

Titania blinked. No one had ever called her pretty before.

"Y-you think I'm pretty?"

Ranma nodded. "You're pretty cute," he added. "Redheads are cute, and you're obviously strong. And you've got legs that go forever." Kicking back he moved away from her, allowing himself to get a better view. Kicking another Hydra agent in the ribs he sent the poor man flying.

"Y-you're not playing with me, are you?" Titania asked. Years of insecurity slowly overrode the control that Madam Hydra had thought she had over the super-powered woman.

"I may be, what do they call it, socially inept," Ranma added as he tossed another armored agent, "but I don't lie about things like this. I'm a man amongst men, I don't make girls or women cry."

Titania paused. Looking at the pigtailed martial artist for the first time she took in his features. He was definitely cute, handsome even. And he had a great body – he had to if he could move like that and throw armored Hydra agents around like he did. Sure, he was shorter than she was, but most people were now that she had transformed and grown like she had.

Blushing, Titania froze, shutting out everything around her as she focused on the cute guy before her.

* * * * *

Rogue was pissed. Here she was, fighting for her life with her fellow X-men against the armored Hydra agents and their super-powered fighters while that womanizing martial artist from Japan was flirting – FLIRTING – with that muscle bound bitch. Did he have no shame? First he took advantage of her and forced himself on her during their last fight (after flashing Spider-man and Iceman) and now he was hitting on that redheaded chick.

Taking out her frustrations on the closest Hydra agent Rogue threw the hapless loser at the little wild haired girl, forcing the Wolverine wanna-be to jump away from Marvel Girl. If the girl was anything like Logan than her claws were made out of adamantium, and she'd be a great threat in close quarters fighting.

Not wanting to get in close with the girl, Rogue grabbed a pair of glowing maces, throwing them at the girl and forcing her into the air. Once airborne the girl was easy pickings as the resident telekinetic grabbed hold of the girl with her mind and slammed her several more Hydra agents.

Using the girl as her personal wrecking ball, Marvel Girl began to knock over the many armored fighters, cutting through them with the girl's adamantium claws and knocking over the towering metal box that Madam Hydra was clearly protecting.

A rumbling filled the cavern as whatever was inside tried to force its way out.

_She-Hulk_, Marvel Girl concluded as she tried to form a mental link with her teammates, _she must be inside_.

Picking up the feral girl again she slammed the girl into the container, claws first, opening a gash in the vibranium container. A few more passes with the clearly enraged girl combined with the savage might of She-Hulk resulted in the container being ripped open, freeing the green skinned woman from her imprisonment.

Slamming the girl into the ceiling, then into the floor, she buried the girl under several hundred pounds of stone and debris.

Rogue smirked maliciously as She-Hulk tore through the Hydra agents. The tide had clearly turned in their favor even with that stupid womanizer chasing after every skirt he could see.

* * * * *

Ranma shook his head. He wasn't sure why, but clearly he'd offended some nameless deity in a past life. How else to explain all that happened to and around him? First there was the curse and the fact that water was just drawn to him. And then there was the fact that he just couldn't have any kind of relationship with women.

Here he was, sent on some mission for Shield when some pretty chick started hitting on him. Though it was much better than her actually hitting him - especially considering how strong she was. He'd even managed to talk her down, but then another woman appeared. Women just didn't like to stay calm around him as the two powerful women started trading blows.

Having witnessed countless fights between his multiple fiancées, Ranma had thought that he'd seen everything. Clearly he hadn't seen as much as he thought he had. Then again, his fiancées had been martial artists. They had skills, well, some of them did.

Watching as Titania and She-Hulk traded punches Ranma shook his head. These women were crazy. Yes, they could dish out the punishment, but how much could they take? The earth shattering punches that the two powerful women threw at each other and landed on each other shook the earth and cavern, making Ranma wish he'd learned some of the construction techniques that Ryoga had picked up.

Crap, the pigtailed boy thought as the ceiling began to give. "This sucks."

* * * * *

A/N

The typical/average American woman is a C-cup. But when you look at superheroines it's clear that they're above average. Still, the original version of this chapter had Ms. Marvel at 38DD, but 36D is impressive too. Yes, superheroines are free from the laws of gravity in more ways than one.

I think I'll just leave things where they're at for now.

Please Read and Review.

Dreamingfox


	12. Chapter 12

Author's Notes –

First off, congratulations to the Saints and New Orleans for winning the Superbowl - it was a good game and great game plan. Now I have more free-time on Sundays.

It's been awhile, but I figured that I might as well answer/reply to some of the reviews.

No, Ranma knows that it's Titania, not Titanic; he's just playing with around with her.

Ranma never thinks of fighting as something serious. Aside from not wanting to lose, he rarely ever thinks of his past fights except to perhaps analyze his opponent's style.

No, I am not filling up/replacing the dead fiancées with new fiancées. That doesn't mean that there can't be some mixed signals between Ranma and the super-ladies.

Ranma did not join Shield; he was approached by them to assist them with a mission. Mostly because Fury's got a grudge and wants to see Ranma squirm, but he also wants to see Ranma in action against someone other than the Ultimates.

Ranma just doesn't get women despite being female half the time.

Thanks for the reviews.

* * * * *

She couldn't believe it - when the chips were down that arrogant punk was running! It wasn't like he hadn't endured worse with the Hydra agents shooting at him or when the Ultimates were trading punches with him, but watching two super-powered women fighting made the runt run for the hills.

Rubbing her aching head, the young mutant slowly realized that it was dark out, though at least she wasn't buried under tons of rock.

Wait, why wasn't she buried under tons of rock?

Focusing on her last memories, Rogue recalled the cavern caving in as Titania and She-Hulk fought. Fortunately Jean had alerted them to what Ranma had been thinking when he somehow tackled the two super-humanly strong women. The diversion had been enough for Marvel Girl to get herself and Storm into the container. Unfortunately for herself Rogue had been too preoccupied with Ranma to get under cover on time. Though fortunately for her she had some of the Juggernaut's enhanced durability. Just not enough of it by the way her head was throbbing.

"I see you're finally up," the familiar voice of her arrogant antagonist chimed in, making her head throb.

"What the hell happened?" the young mutant growled.

"Aside from the entire mountain falling down on us?" he replied snidely. "Not sure. I woke up not too long ago."

"Where's everybody else?"

"No clue," Ranma shrugged. "We're somewhere in the mountains, and it looks like someone dragged us here."

"Everyone else is fine," a new voice cut in speaking in clear, crisp Japanese.

Though the new speaker was still in the shadows Ranma recognized the man's voice. "Taro?"

"Taro?" Rogue repeated, flashes of Ranma's memories filling her mind's eye. "Pantyhose Taro?"

Ranma blinked. _Rogue was speaking Japanese_.

"I'm no longer 'Pantyhose Taro'," the taller man stated. "Happosai has agreed to rename me. Now I am Teruharu Taro."

"So why are you here?" Ranma asked bluntly.

"I'm here to collect on the other half of what Happosai offered me in exchange for my services," Taro stated.

"And what are you here to collect?" Rogue asked.

"I'm here for the power that both of you currently wield."

"You're here because we both, no all of us, were exposed to the Gem of Cryttorak, but only one person can wield all of its powers," the shrewd martial artist concluded.

Taro nodded grimly.

"I surrender," Ranma stated. This wasn't a fight worth his time, not to mention that he hated cheap power-ups or the fact that he hated taking orders in general.

Not liking the way the martial artist gave up such power so easily, Cryttorak quickly withdrew the power that he had imbued the pigtailed boy with. But for someone like Ranma who had already been pulling his punches against the armored Hydra agents the loss of power was simply like sneezing, though less messy.

Feeling a wave of power energizing them, Rogue and Taro eyed each other. For Taro the power was part of a bargain he'd made. For Rogue it was something that an admirer had given her. Neither had a right to the power, but both were willing to fight for it. As such Ranma didn't care about the outcome of the fight other than the fact that eventually he might have to fight either one. Having already defeated the Juggernaut once before, and beaten both fighters before, he was confident in his ability to defeat either of them when they acquired the full powers of Cryttorak.

Taking the initiative Taro rushed in, throwing a feint with his right and only to connect with a spinning round house with his left that knocked Rogue down.

Though he had only fought Taro in his other form, Ranma knew better than to expect the older fighter to use only power moves. Watching him fight in his human form it became clear that Taro was much more than just a power puncher – he actually had some skill in Chinese Kempo to back up his powerful muscles.

Rogue wouldn't be out done though. Having absorbed Ranma's memories the young mutant was undeterred by the fact that she was fighting a skilled and powerful fighter. Rolling to her feet she assumed a standard fighter's stance. No longer able to rely on her ability to drain whomever she touched or who touched her, she was forced to actually defend and fight. Blocking a powerful kick to the head she grabbed Taro's ankle, allowing the momentum of the kick to spin her even as she pulled him off is remaining foot and slamming him into and through a mighty oak.

For his part Ranma wasn't allowed to simply watch. Jumping out of the way of the falling tree he knew that he'd have to keep an eye on the terrain as the two powerful warriors traded blows. Clearly Rogue hadn't learned enough of his personal style, or else she refused to use his moves/style for whatever reason.

While Rogue was swinging for the fence Taro continued to use basic kempo against the mutant, though he did favor hitting her in the head a lot. The swift three hit combo to Rogue's face bloodied her even as he drove her through another tree. The vicious kick to the groin though was just low. Ranma couldn't help but cringe in sympathy as Taro doubled over.

Grabbing Rogue's other leg Taro threw her aside as he sought to recover from the dirty blow.

Wiping the blood from her face Rogue grinned maliciously as she pulled herself up to her feet. Her grin quickly vanished as Taro extracted a thermos and poured the cold water over himself, triggering his transformation.

Having witnessed just how powerful Taro was in his human body, Ranma wondered just how much stronger he was in his cursed/monstrous form.

Lashing out with one of his many tentacle arms, Taro wrapped the appendage around a tree and quickly hurtled it at Rogue. A second appendage wrapped around another tree, then swung at Rogue as she leapt into the air to avoid the first tree.

Unable to shift her momentum, Rogue was sent flying before creating a long trench in the muddy earth until she finally came to a stop beneath a huge boulder.

Screaming in rage she got to her feet and kicked off the ground, propelling herself at her opponent. Smashing through the tree that he threw at her she tackled him to the ground.

The pair rolled around, trading vicious blows as any pretense of style and skill was abandoned. Quick yet powerful blows shook the earth as the two rolled down the steep slope of the mountain. Rolling as they were it was clear to Ranma that the young mutant was at a disadvantage. Each time the pair crashed into either a boulder or tree it was usually Rogue who bore the brunt of the collision. But at least she'd managed to bloody Taro up as she head butted his oxen nose.

Still, it was clear that Rogue was getting the worst of the exchange as Taro's multiple appendages lashed out at her – connecting twice each before Rogue could even land one punch. Yet rather than simply trading blows Taro sought to pin his opponent. The surprisingly strong and flexible arms punished her as Taro choked her, tied her arms and legs up, and hammered her stomach and face with his punishing fists. Pulling himself to his feet Taro continued to pummel Rogue, taking advantage of his monstrous form and the greater strength that it possessed.

With the outcome of the fight clearly leaning in Taro's favor, Ranma knew that he had to get the big brute to stop before he actually killed the girl. Rushing towards the pair he knew better than to engage in a direct fight with Taro.

"You win," Ranma declared, hoping that that would be enough to get Taro to stop even though he knew that it wouldn't be enough to stop Taro's assault. Seeing the monstrous fighter lash out with a jet of ink was encouraging though as Ranma easily avoided the thick, dark liquid as he rushed to Rogue's aid. Jumping up he latched onto Rogue, wrapping his legs around her hips even as he grabbed hold of her skin-tight outfit. Fortunately the brutal fight had ripped part of the durable fabric made of unstable molecules, allowing Ranma to rip it further, exposing Rogue's perky 38D's to the young man in a monster's body.

Oxen eyes locked onto the fleshy globes as they jiggled before him. A sudden jet of hot blood shot from Taro's already bleeding nose even as his multiple appendages loosened their hold on the now unconscious Rogue.

The influx of power from the Gem of Cryttorak was not enough to overcome Taro's raging hormones, though it prevented him from dying of a loss of blood.

Without the higher endurance granted to her from the mystical gem Rogue's fine features were quickly replaced with red welts and dark bruises.

Seeing as how Taro wouldn't be able to help Ranma sighed. Even though he was saving her life Ranma knew that Rogue would probably try to kill him afterwards.

* * * * *

She should have known better. Getting into a powerful slugfest in an underground cavern was just plain stupid, yet there she was, trading blows with Titania. The little bitch had it coming to her though. The hulk/soldier serum that Betty Ross had created was specifically designed to work on her and her alone. Though it had the end result of turning her skin and hair green it was an added effect that she'd purposely designed to make her resemble the man that she loved.

But the stupid wench Walters had taken out the pigment changing effect. That combined with the fact that the A.I.M. or Hydra agent had not been the primary subject that the formula was intended for made the fact that Titania had survived all the more annoying. Though the serum was less stable it was also made Titania noticeably stronger than she was. No, correction – it made Titania stronger initially, but she didn't grow stronger the angrier she got like the Hulk and She-Hulk did. Like the Abomination (but without the skin change) Titania had a set limit on her physical strength. Plus the stupid nano-bots that stabilized her body made her susceptible to being controlled by anyone with the right equipment.

Yet even the minimal control that Madam Hydra had on Titania had failed to hold up when the girl had been faced with a cute admirer. Odd to think that such a basic emotion could short out some of the most advanced technology out there – granted, it wouldn't short out a nuclear bomb, but still, it was impressive.

Having lost sight of Titania when the mountain had collapsed onto her Betty assumed that the person who had dug the hole out of the cavern had to be the powerful Titania. Either that or it was Marvel Girl. One way or the other she'd find out, and if it was Titania than they'd finish their fight. And this time She-Hulk wouldn't just be relying on her muscles; no, she'd use her greatest asset – her brain.

* * * * *

"Looks like we bagged us another Madam Hydra," Colonel Nick Fury said with a smile. Though the fighting had apparently collapsed part of the mountain it had kept Madam Hydra and her personal escort from escaping. Well, most of her escort. "So where are She-Hulk and Titania?"

Rubbing her head Marvel Girl sighed. It had taken every ounce of her ability and then some to keep herself and Storm from becoming bloody smudges in the caved in cavern. Having exhausted herself as she kept the cramped container that had once housed the She-Hulk upright as the two mutants used it as some sort of save haven from the rocky debris, Jean knew that she couldn't really trace those two minds. Still, she could at least explain to Fury what she'd seen before the mountain fell on top of them.

"The last I saw they were fighting," the redhead stated. "After that I couldn't keep track of them as I was keeping myself and Storm from being buried alive."

"Sir," Agent Foster, the agent in charge of the excavation site said as he saluted the Colonel. "It appears as though four individuals managed to dig themselves out, though the tunnels they dug up collapsed soon afterwards."

"Four?" Captain America asked.

Agent Foster nodded. "Three were dug out using brute force, but the forth, that one was dug out by someone with claws."

"With the Juggernaut's strength and durability Rogue could have dug her way out," Storm concluded. "But why would she leave us behind?"

"Sir," Agent Salas called out over the com system, "there's seismic activity several miles from here."

"Cap, take U. S. Agent, Ms. Marvel, and Ironman to investigate," Fury ordered. "If you find our missing fugitives apprehend them."

* * * * *

The scent of freshly spilled blood filled her nostrils, suggesting that the three people she was following had somehow managed to injure themselves. Given the amount of blood spilled it was possible that one of them might even be dead. Though the scent was unfamiliar to her she knew that two of the individuals she had been fighting were with the third, foreign scent. That was enough to get her to chase after that trail.

And then there was the fact that the other two trails seemed to be heading in the same direction as well.

Yes, if she followed the trio she would be able to find the other two as well.

* * * * *

Ripping open Rogue's top had been necessary, though Ranma would soon learn that it was not the wisest thing to do.

Though the She-Hulk possessed incredible eye-sight she had seen the scene from a different perspective. As a woman herself she knew how awful men, especially powerful men, could be when left alone with attractive and hapless women. Seeing Ranma and his monster attack Rogue, bind her, and then rip her top off She-Hulk was furious. With a running start she leapt into the air, fully intending to rip the heads off of the offending males – and the tentacles… yes, the tentacles definitely had to go too.

The steadily growing object that slowly descended towards the clearing was all the warming Ranma needed as he quickly draped his shirt over Rogue's bandaged torso. He'd definitely have to talk with Taro about those damned suckers and the large, red welts that he left with his tentacles.

Shoving Rogue on top of Taro, Ranma eyed the quickly descending She-Hulk. As expected the ground shook as the titan crashed into the ground, burying herself knee deep into the soft topsoil. "Yo," he greeted with a casual wave.

"Get your hands off of her!" the green-skinned titan shouted as she extracted herself from the tiny crater that she found herself in.

Ranma blinked then looked around. "Me? What?"

* * * * *

"So," Tony asked as he scanned the former Acting Director of Shield, "what do you think?"

Using a closed com channel, the reluctant original member of the Ultimates eyed the two newest members of the rebuilt team.

Not wanting to audibly reply where the two women could hear him, Captain America tapped out his answer onto Ironman's titanium hand as the armored superhero carried him through the air.

"Yeah, U.S. Agent is just a cuter version of you," Tony smirked. "She needs more training as well. But Ms. Marvel, she's pretty powerful. I can't believe that she was another random accident. Robert thinks that the plasma energy as well as whatever machine they had to try and mimic what created the Fantastic Four combined with the Super Soldier Serum is the cause of her powers."

Again Captain America tapped another message to his fellow Ultimates founder.

"Yeah, she's no Thor, but she's got a really mean punch," Tony replied. "And she's a fighter unlike Walters. Still, she's going to get better with training."

Letting his suit decode the Morse code the young genius nodded. "I think Nerd boy lacks the original's edge too. I heard you kicked him in the balls the balls the first time you two tussled. I probably would have too."

Feeling the distant shock waves and seeing the mountainside trembling in the distance Tony adjusted his suit, changing the settings so that the others could hear him speaking, "Yeah, it's our boy, or girl – it looks like he's fighting the She-Hulk."

The original super soldier tapped another message to his companion even as he watched Ms. Marvel carry U.S. Agent in a similar way that Ironman was carrying him.

"We're not sure why they're fighting, but Ranma has had a past of fighting against us," Ironman stated. "Your job is to go in and break them up without escalating the situation. We will observe, and if necessary back you up."

Both former Shield Agents nodded.

* * * * *

_Man, maybe I should have fought them for the Juggernaut's powers_, Ranma contemplated as he ducked under another mighty punch. _Then again, I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't want her hitting me regardless_.

Though he really didn't know much about the She-Hulk, Ranma knew enough about the real Hulk and the Nerd Hulk to know that enraging them wasn't a good plan. True, this incarnation of the Hulk wasn't as vicious and powerful as the original, but she was plenty mad, and plenty strong – especially for a relatively normal human like Ranma.

Unwilling to taunt her, Ranma had to settle for simply evading her attacks, hoping that the mountain would not collapse on them as a result of the many punches and blows that rattled the ground.

Ducking under another powerful punch, the pigtailed boy instinctively rolled out of the way as another titanic body rushed towards him. The resulting collision rattled him as the two titanic bodies collided.

"Leave my boyfriend alone!"

A cold shiver ran through Ranma spine as he turned around. Once again Titania and She-Hulk were throwing down. Clearly Titania was not happy with the other woman attacking her 'boyfriend'; though probably not as unhappy as Ranma was at being called her boyfriend.

Before Ranma could even react to the new development things got worse, much worse.

"Stand down!" a somewhat familiar voice cried out.

Looking up Ranma watched as Ms. Marvel flung the busty brunette now known as U.S. Agent at the clearing. Clearly Walters wasn't as good as the original Captain America as the new super powered being skidded to a halt rather than rolled and landed gracefully as Cap would have done (though Ranma would have just landed gracefully). Flying fast and hard, Ms. Marvel tackled Titania, well, she tried to. Rather than colliding with the larger, stronger Titania as she tussled with the She-Hulk the U.S. Agent instead collided with the tiny huntress known as X-23 as the hellion tried to assist her supposed comrade in arms.

This was going to get messy.

Watching as She-Hulk and Titania continued to trade blows, Ranma slipped past the pair as he moved to intervene on Ms. Marvel's behalf. A swift yet powerful kick to the stomach sent the little hellion flying, giving the busty blond room to breath and not worry about being skewered by the twin claws that the savage girl sported on each hand.

Holding up his hand to wave off assistance from U.S. Agent and Ms. Marvel, Ranma stood between them and the wild haired girl. With a snarl she pulled herself to her feet. Running hard she quickly closed the distance between them before her surprisingly strong legs launched her lithe form at Ranma. Standing his ground Ranma waited for the last moment before gently spinning under her outstretched arms. A light pat to the back was all he needed to knock her off balance, sending her skidding into the dirt as she flew by him.

An odd energy pulse filled the clearing, sending a nauseating wave of discomfort through Ranma. Turning around he shook off the nausea as he focused on Ms. Marvel as the blond super-hero seemed to shimmer.

Suddenly Titania doubled over, screaming in pain as her body convulsed.

Not even bothering to wonder why her opponent had stopped, She-Hulk connected with a thundering punch to the face that sent the other woman flying and then crashing through first a tree than a boulder. Unwilling to let that end things the green-skinned woman rushed her downed opponent.

Not willing to let a super-powered fighter beat up on a defeated and unconscious opponent Ranma quickly moved so that he was now between the two women. Standing his ground as the She-Hulk barreled towards him Ranma assumed a casual stance.

Undeterred by his presence She-Hulk wound up for a powerful punch even as she charged forward.

Though he'd never used the move before, Ranma knew the basic principals of it. Still, it would have been nice to have actually pulled the move off on someone else first before being forced to use it against someone that hit as hard as the Hulk. Trusting his skills and memory, Ranma carefully deflected the punch even as he redirected the titanic force behind the punch and sent the She-Hulk flying. Having somehow managed to transfer all of the force behind her attack back to her, the resulting flight was spectacular.

"What the hell did you do?" U.S. Agent asked as she gazed at the slowly shrinking form of the She-Hulk.

"Trade secret," Ranma replied. "You might want to fly after her," he suggested as he stole a quick glance at Ms. Marvel.

"Why?" the blond questioned.

"Just think how hard she's going to land when she does land," Captain America stated as he and Ironman landed.

"Why?" U.S. Agent asked.

"She may not get hurt," the martial artist answered, "but she could cause a minor earthquake when she hits."

"Oh."

* * * * *

Rogue glared at the shirtless Ranma. Not only had he used her to defeat that monster Taro, but the arrogant punk had allowed the freak to fly off as though it was nothing.

Ignoring the daggers that she stared at him, Ranma eyed the questions before him. Taking a moment to actually concentrate, he scribbled his answer.

"This is such a waste of time," the man behind War Machine stated.

"What else do we have to do right now?" Robert Bruce Banner retorted as he looked over the first sheet of questions and answers.

"You really think this kid is a genius?" the man in the white business suit asked.

"Yes Gregory, I do," Nerd Hulk replied. "I've looked over his school transcripts and then helped him with his homework. His problem isn't that he's stupid, just that he doesn't read English that well. I went through the entire math textbook with him and he breezed through it effortlessly. I even went through some advanced calculus and physics equations and he went through them easily. This kid is a genius. He subconsciously figures out the various equations behind, oh, the She-Hulk throwing a punch, and calculates the force and velocity, then figures out a way to redirect it effortlessly so as to effectively counter it without getting hurt. He's not just an expert at hand-to-hand combat – his mind is constantly calculating the various forces being applied and he moves his body to best manipulate those forces so that he can use those forces against his opponents.

"Captain America is a great example of geometry in motion as he throws the shield around, calculating angles and ricochet, but this kid is on a whole other level."

The older Stark sibling sighed. "He's just a normal kid."

"A normal kid who managed to send the She-Hulk some three hundred meters into the air with just a little kung fu move," the cloned Hulk stated. "A kid who happened to defeat the current incarnation of the Ultimates and the X-men – twice, by himself I might add."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that there's more to this kid than meets the eye."

"That's obvious," the goateed man stated. "We already know that he turns into a girl when splashed with cold water and turns back with hot water."

"And that Rogue's ability to drain him is negated," Marvel Girl interjected.

"And that he's deathly afraid of cats and become one mentally when over-exposed to cats," Storm added even as Rogue shuddered.

"You know, if he's this good, why the hell are we spending hundreds of millions of dollars on Stark tech?" Fury asked rhetorically.

"Can this kid fly?" the older Stark asked.

"No," the younger Stark, still in his armor, replied. "But he can apparently talk down someone that's nearly as strong as the Hulk, effortlessly render defeat someone as fierce and savage as Wolverine, and create tornados out of nowhere. Yeah, he's got all of our numbers."

"This kid's good, and I want him," Fury stated.

"But he's also Japanese," Carol Danvers stated. "We can only have him if the Japanese agree to it. They only allowed him to come this time to smooth things over for the last pair of encounters."

"Besides," Captain America interrupted, "with all the new heroes you've got now you don't need him. Or us."

Everyone looked at the World War Two veteran.

"Now that you've got yourself a new Captain America and Ironman, I don't think you need the original Captain America and Ironman."

"What, you're seriously going to leave?" Gregory scoffed even as he eyed his masked brother.

"Fine," Fury said, cutting off the discussion. "But you're not going after the Red Skull. If you do I'm going to have to send the Ultimates after you again, and you know how that ended last time."

* * * * *

A/N

Yes, Captain America's right, they took the edge off of the Hulk by putting Banner's mind in control. Still, it's a volatile situation at best.

I'll leave this where it's at for now. Please Read and Review.

Dreamingfox


	13. Chapter 13

Author's Notes –

Yeah, I own nothing but a handful of ideas and OC's.

So, I gotta ask, what do you mean when your review says 'ok'?

Yes, Ranma is pretty smart, but his Ranma is probably much smarter.

I did make a mistake - Ranma has used the move before, just not without a weapon/pipe like Happosai usually does it.

No, Ranma will not be using ki to change his size. Actually, Genma and Happosai didn't grow - they just manifested their battle auras and made it visible to everyone.

Captain America hasn't passed on the baton, not really, he just got fed up with working for Fury. He's been becoming disenfranchised with the Ultimates before Magneto destroyed the world, and afterwards he's gotten more fed up with Fury's methods.

* * * * *

The barren valleys of Valhalla were full. Unfortunately it was full of death as the multitude of dead warriors loitered around as there was little to do until Ragnarok lest some warrior dared to rescue a comrade or loved one. Yes, Valhalla could get pretty boring despite the 24-7 access to food, beer and women (or men if the warrior went that way since not all the assembled warriors were men or straight).

"Release me Hela," the golden haired godling stated as he eyed the only other living tenant of Valhalla.

"But your noble sacrifice allowed your beloved wife and friend to return to Mid-gard," the white haired goddess teased. "Are you not content to spend an eternity with me so that they can spend a few more years in Mid-gard?"

Thor scowled. He knew that as a living god he would not have to take orders from Hela. Still, he could not raise a hand against her or force his way out of the realm of the dead as he had willingly accepted their place in Valhalla, though only for now.

"You know what I need and what I want," she teased as she unclasped the hook that held up the metal cups covering her ample breasts.

"I'm married," the godling stated.

"Such a bore," she smirked as she let the protective covering fall to the ground. As the queen of the dead she had many willing minions, though unfortunately none of them could get the job done. Only the living could give her an heir. "I shall allow you your freedom once you provide me with an heir."

"Any heir will do?" he queried.

"The father must be a man amongst men," Hela stated, "able to defeat my army."

"And if I can find this man?"

"You would have to convince him to father my child," she stated skeptically. "What man could best Thor, the God of Thunder and Lightning?"

Rubbing his bearded chin the golden haired god weighed his options. He'd once been bested by Colossus, and there was the Hulk of course.

"Give me a scrying pool," he suggested, "and I shall find you a man amongst men.

* * * * *

Ranma was bored. Though his condition wasn't unusual, it did often result in bad things happening. At least in Nerima the pigtailed boy didn't have long to wait between challenges – be they actual physical challenges or some other sort of challenge that tested his ability.

It didn't help that the school had been nearly leveled while he was gone, which was not his fault for once. Some robot had apparently come in to ransack the place looking for Spider-man, which only meant that someone was looking for Peter and that clearly he was losing control of his situation.

Still, with the odd tension between Ranma and the other teens, the pigtailed martial artist didn't feel like volunteering to help the twerp, not unless someone's life was actually on the line or the guy came and asked for help. Given the type of relationship they had that wasn't likely. Regardless, Ranma made a point of letting Mary Jane know where he was, though she wasn't likely to visit him either given the compromising position she'd found him in when she had come to visit him (or his place to be specific).

With school closed for the week while the building underwent repairs, Ranma found that he had a lot of free time on his hands. Unfortunately a lot of that time was spent helping to train the U.S. Agent and Ms. Marvel at Colonel Fury's request. With nothing else to do, and with some good money to be made, Ranma couldn't pass up the chance to show the super-powered beings that he really was out of their league. Sure, he hadn't actually beaten them today, but the scenario was against him as he and Titania (who was allowed out to help the heroes train) were set to play the roles of super-powered terrorists that were trying to kidnap the President's daughters. Even though the Life Model Decoys were simply robots, Ranma couldn't justify 'killing' the LMDs to thwart the Ultimates, thus ending the scenario as a loss for both sides. At least he didn't have to sit through the training debriefing.

Ducking out of the hidden base, Ranma slowly made his way back through the ruined and yet to be repaired areas of New York. Walking through China Town and into Little Tokyo the pigtailed martial artist let the familiar scents distract him as fought the urge to simply engorge himself at the closest food stall. Having spent much of the week with Miya as the pair tested and sampled the various shops Ranma decided to be daring and sample some of the typical American foods. Sure, he'd had plenty of burgers from the golden arches in Tokyo, but seeing the monster burgers that some of the local non-franchise restaurants offered the pigtailed boy decided to help out a smaller business for once.

Looking over the menu, the hungry youth quickly ordered two of everything. With the money that he was earning as the new special instructor for Shield Ranma knew that he had more than enough to cover the order. True, it was probably more food than he could eat himself, but it wasn't all for him. Though it took a while for his order to be filled (some twenty minutes which in the fast food business was extremely long) Ranma didn't mind, especially considering that he had nothing else to do.

Carrying three bags of food in one arm (with the other used to feed himself a tasty but messy chilli-cheese burger) Ranma made his way into one of the unrepaired sections of the city. Though he knew that nothing he could do would ever make up for his past sins Ranma knew that he needed to make some sort of reparations for his actions.

Picking out two more burgers for himself and Miya (a double cheese burger with the works and a half pound double cheese burger with extra pickles) he set the three bags of food down beside a vending machine. Leaving a bundle of crisp, green singles beneath the bag he hoped that the money would be more than enough for the hidden mutants that had spotted him leaving the food behind.

Though he would not admit to being wrong nor apologize to Kitty and the other X-Men, Ranma hoped that the small, daily gesture would be enough for now. It would never make up for the wrongs he'd committed, but it was something that hopefully would allow the surviving mutants that hid themselves to survive another day.

Making his way back towards China Town Ranma noticed that he'd grown two tails. It didn't bother him in the slightest as he mentally marked that he'd gone several city blocks with the pair diligently following him. But with so much free time on his hands, Ranma decided to see what his pursuers wanted from him. Leading them back out towards one of the rundown and unoccupied sections of the city he slowed his pace. Turning a corner, he suddenly dashed ahead, running up a wall before jumping into a broken third story window. Circling back through the vacant building Ranma was surprised when his two pursuers entered the same building he'd slipped into. Clearly these weren't your typical stalkers.

Eying up the blond man and his companion of Chinese descent, Ranma knew that these two knew their way around a dojo.

"So you're Ranma Saotome?" the blond man asked as he walked across the unsteady floor confidently. "Interesting choice of buildings to duck into."

"It's always interesting with me around," the pigtailed youth shot back.

"We shouldn't underestimate him Danny," the Chinese man stated.

"So you're looking for a fight?" the young master of Anything Goes Martial Arts asked as he listened to the decrepit floor creaking beneath the strain of his presence.

"Not really," the Chinese man replied. "We just wanted to meet the young man who apparently was able to defeat Spider-man with just martial arts."

Screwing his eyes as he searched his memory for any mention of the two men before him, Ranma noted that the two appeared to be trying to trap him between them. "So who are you?"

"I'm Danny Rand," the blond stated, "also known as Iron Fist."

"Shang Chi," the other man stated.

"What, no title?"

Shang Chi shrugged.

A light breeze caressed Ranma's neck as he waited for his opponents to make a move. The flicker of movement from the blond signaled the first attack. Though it was a form that Ranma had not yet seen, he knew enough of the various martial arts to know where the attack was directed. The powerful punch was a feint though it could set up an elbow, middle kick or spinning round house if he was fast enough.

On his right side Shang Chi watched, taking his measure from the way Ranma moved and defended.

The lightning quick snap kick to the stomach though stopped Iron Fist. Though the kick didn't connect it did force the blond to abort his attack – stopping just a centimeter short of the extended leg and foot while his own fist was a much more pronounced distance from the pigtailed boy's body.

Ranma smiled. It'd been a while since he'd fought someone with this much control. Though Captain America was an expert fighter in close quarters, the man was a brawler through and through. No motion or movement went wasted with the grizzled veteran of the second great world war. As such Cap would have either shifted his attack to target the offending leg or moved to take the blow while connecting with a counter attack as he traded blows.

But for Danny Rand, the Iron Fist, to stop short of being struck was intriguing. Only the old ghoul and the current Sorcerer Supreme had ever shown such control. Yes, this would be interesting.

Slowly the two master martial artists retracted their muscles as they pulled away from each other. Ranma once again resumed his usual non-stance while Danny eyed the surprisingly effective stance before adopting his own aggressive kempo stance.

_Interesting_, Ranma mused as the man appeared to focus on going on the offensive.

Again the blond rushed in, this time leading with a middle kick from the left. The pigtailed boy quickly responded with a counter to the knee. The blond nimbly reacted, retracting his extended leg but allowing the offending foot to connect with his bent knee even as he used the force of the counter to follow up with a twisting punch.

Ranma smirked as he parried the punch and floated over his attacker, springing off of Danny's right leg as the blond sought to connect with a stiff back kick and quarter spinning back handed strike combo. Landing several meters behind his startled opponent the pigtailed youth smirked.

"Most of your attacks are based on your punches. The kicks have some power, but they're primarily there to set up the punches where the real focus of your style is," he concluded.

"You got all that from the quick exchange?" Danny asked as he looked at the younger martial artist.

"Well, that and the name 'Iron Fist'," Ranma smirked. "You were also trying to get me to land there, there and there," he pointed to several weak spots in the floor. "Not a bad idea, but you clearly didn't expect me to be so nimble and agile."

"He's good," Shang Chi stated as he patted his companion on the shoulder. "No wonder you defeated Spider-man."

"Well, the kid's good, but he's got no style," Ranma shrugged.

"He lacks form and telegraphs his attacks," the Chinese martial artist stated as he took off his shirt.

Ranma nodded.

Shang Chi dashed in, leading with an overhead smash before stopping short and spinning around to throw a spinning roundhouse to the head with the left.

Ranma smiled as he was forced to slide under the combo, the swift displacement of the air telling him that he'd barely evaded the attack. Flipping back he answered with a kick that was caught by his supposedly off balance opponent. Twisting around, Ranma freed his ankle though he was forced to kick out with his other foot, only to have that ankle trapped in Shang Chi's strong grip.

For the briefest of moments Ranma was flying through the air. Only an aerial master (which he was) could have twisted around to control his flight, landing gently against the column before kicking off of it and propelling himself back to the ground where he swept the feet out from underneath his opponent as the older fighter charged in for another exchange.

But he didn't sweep the bulkier man off his feet even though his heel connected with the back of Shang Chi's knee. Trapping the ankle between the meaty quad and calf muscles Shang leaned back, lashing out with a kick.

Again Ranma smiled as he caught his opponent's leg. Though he preferred to counter strike, Ranma was well versed in grappling as well. Wrenching his opponent's ankle and foot, he twisted, sending a sharp pain through the offending leg.

Breaking apart the two sprang to their feet as they eyed each other.

Shang Chi sprang in, kicking to test Ranma's defenses, not bothering to flex is ankle. A quick punch forced Ranma to circle to his right. Nimbly he dodged a low, middle, low, high kicking combo, before slapping away a middle kick Ranma answered with a kick to the face.

Stumbling back several steps Shang Chi rolled his neck before getting back into his stance. A left jab brushed away Ranma's hand, allowing the taller martial artist to follow up with a right cross that startled Ranma. A high front kick turned into an axe kick, barely giving Ranma the time to move out of the way of the attack. Shang Chi's quick hands somehow managed to grab hold of Ranma's shirt, and a gentle twist of the hips and shoulders sent Ranma flying.

Again the pigtailed youth spun in the air, kicking off of the ceiling and before he grabbed hold of his older opponent's shoulders and as he used his momentum to flip the other fighter.

Tucking his feet and legs to him Shang Chi managed to roll on the ground before getting to his feet. Again he sprang to his feet. Wiping the dirt from his face he smiled. "You are good, very good," the older fighter stated.

"Thanks," the young fighter replied.

"I think if you keep beating up Spider-man he'll be forced to realize that he needs to train to reach his full potential," the Chinese fighter concluded.

Ranma nodded. "We'll see. Spider-man's pretty proud after all."

* * * * *

"Bless you," the scraggly haired teen said as he eyed the runty brunette behind the counter.

Grabbing a napkin, Peter Parker nodded his thanks even as he wiped his nose. Grabbing some hand sanitizer he applied liberal amounts, cleaning his hands off before grabbing the tray of food. "Here's your number seven special."

* * * * *

The rest of the trip home had actually gone pretty smoothly for the pigtailed martial artist, though meeting up with Miya had been a bit rocky at first as the inquisitive fake mutant began to question him about the obvious signs of a fight. Having learned to hide his surface thoughts and emotions by either voiding his mind through the Soul of Ice technique or by overloading it with tangent thoughts, Ranma had learned how to deal with Miya's telepathy to a degree. True, he wouldn't be able to stop her from performing a deep probe, but she knew that he'd never put up with it if she went that far for just little things like a fight.

Only the prospect of non-Asian food seemed to silence the girl as she stuffed her face with the remaining burgers. Aside from her obvious chewing the rest of the walk home had been quiet.

Unfortunately things didn't last that long as the pair returned to Ranma's apartment where the sight of the door opened just a crack alerted them to the presence of uninvited guests. Slipping into the apartment Ranma closed the door behind himself even as Miya growled at the two men. Seeing that neither was armed, Ranma put his hand on the shorter girl's shoulder, calming her down.

Opening his mouth he froze as the man behind Ironman shook his head. Flashing him several signs Ranma sighed.

"What do you want?" he signed back, ungrateful that Robert had taught him sign language. Clearly a genius like Stark had also been able to pick up the basics of it.

"Cap needs your help," Tony signed back. "Is there somewhere we can meet in private?"

"Why? Does Shield have me under observation?"

The unmasked Captain America nodded.

Fighting back the urge to sigh, he turned to the telepath. Touching his forehead to hers as he focused on one of the entrances to the secret lair that he'd used before, passing the information to the telepath.

With the information in hand Miya nodded, walking over to first Ironman then Captain America, repeating the process as she passed the information to them.

"Why don't we catch a movie?" Ranma suggested as he turned to his companion. It was a good reason to get out of the apartment, and the dark theater would allow them a chance to get out of sight of any possible tails they might have on them. It would also give Cap and Ironman the time they needed to get out of the apartment and to the hidden lair.

"Sure," Miya replied. "Just let me get a quick shower first. Care to join me?" she teased, playing up her part in the charade.

"Nah, you go ahead," he replied as he walked towards his bedroom and Miya moved towards the bathroom.

Timing it so that he opened and closed the door right when Captain America and Miya did, Ranma hoped that they could cover the fact that someone else had been inside the apartment. "What do you want to see?"

"They're showing a Godzilla marathon tonight, right?" Miya replied.

"Subtitled?"

"Yep, though they are showing the two American Godzilla movies."

"Is it the one where Godzilla wins or loses?"

"Probably the one he loses since this is America."

Ranma sighed. He'd really be bummed if it they actually showed the one where Godzilla beat King Kong.

* * * * *

Slipping out of the theater had been easy. As a master of his father's two sealed styles/schools Ranma was an expert at sneaking around. It also helped that most of the hidden entrances were, well, very well hidden throughout the city and that there was one close to the theater.

"So," he said as he closed the door behind him, "what did you two want to talk about?" Spotting the third figure he sighed, apparently he'd spoken too soon.

"This is Valkryie, Thor's wife," Captain America stated.

Having never actually met the late Norse God of Thunder, Ranma simply shrugged as he nodded at the fairly muscular blond.

"Thor sacrificed himself so that we could survive the Ultimatum Wave," Cap explained.

"But he didn't die," the blond woman stated. "He's alive, though he now resides in Valhalla."

"O-kay," the pigtailed martial artist replied. "So like that guy in Greek mythology you're going to waltz right in and reclaim him?"

"Hela, the ruler of Valhalla, can't keep him there forever as he has not died," Valkryie stated. "Using Mjolnir we should be able to enter Asgard to petition Odin, the All Father, to force Hela to release Thor."

Ranma sighed, considering the options. "Didn't Thor voluntarily sacrifice himself to save you? If he's only going to stay in Valhalla for a while why not wait?"

"You've seen the current incarnation of the Ultimates," Ironman interjected, "do you think that Fury won't use his personal army of super-heroes to do whatever he thinks needs to be done?"

"So you want me to help you find and free Thor so that you can create another team of capes?" Ranma asked skeptically.

"There need to be checks and balances," Cap replied.

"I know you don't trust Fury, and neither do we. But if we're going to stand up to him and his Ultimates we'll need a real bruiser like Thor."

"What about the Hulk?" Ranma asked.

"No one's seen him since the Ultimatum Wave," Captain America answered. "Plus he's a liability, both with the public and with any capes. When everyone thought that Spider-man was dead they blamed the Hulk. He's too unstable to be considered as a valuable teammate."

Ranma nodded, they did make a good argument. Still… "Fine," he finally answered. "When you figure out how you're going to get there let me know, I'll lend a hand."

* * * * *

"You're sure this is the guy?" the powerfully build man asked as he looked down at the young man below.

"That's him alright," the masked man stated as he eyed the youth through the binoculars.

"He's not much to look at," the redheaded woman stated. "You're sure he's the guy that the Ultimates fought?"

"It's him," the forth member of the group stated. "I can smell the magical energy that taints him."

"Dude, the guy looks weak," the first man stated.

"Not everyone needs to look intimidating like us," the armored man beside him stated.

"Just follow him and the girl," the apparent leader of the team stated. "Once we get a chance, we jump them. We'll show the Ultimates that we're not just some wannabes."

* * * * *

A/N

I think I'll just leave things where they're at for now.

Please Read and Review.

Dreamingfox


	14. Chapter 14

Author's Notes –

Yeah, there's a poll about this fic on my profile, but it's going pretty well. Still, feel free to stop by and check it out.

I'm sure most of you have noticed the other fic that I've gotten very wrapped up in writing, posting, and what not which has affected how often I write and post this and other fics. It happens. I'll still try to update at least once a month.

* * * * *

The cold, frigid air of the underworld was slowly starting to wear on the godling. It wasn't the fact that he was surrounded by the dead – it was the fact that he'd once fought beside many of them and also was the one who had sent many there. Surrounded by former friends and former foes was unsettling. Though the dead did not talk, just a simple look at many of them, even the ones he had not known when they were alive, reminded him of the friends and companions he'd fought with and the enemies he'd fought against. A helm here or an emblem there reminded him of a young aspiring knight or recent recruit.

Focusing his eyes on the nearly still surface of the scrying pool the powerful thunder god considered his options. Both Namor and the Hulk had defeated him in battle, but the prince of Atlantis would always hold something like this over his head should he ever actually convince Namor to assist him. And the Hulk, well, he was unpredictable and volatile at the best.

But who could he find to satisfy Hela's desire? And how to find such a person? There was only one man whom he, the God of Thunder looked up to – Captain America. Surely he could find a man who even Hela would approve of. But how to communicate with him?

* * * * *

Considering everything that Ranma had recently endured it came as no surprise that simply hanging out with his classmates had become slightly odd. Sure, Ranma didn't think anything of the fact that he'd beaten most of them up recently, but he was used to those kinds of things. Sure, he really didn't hang out with Ryoga, Mousse, and Kuno except when he needed their help with something, but he could… wait, no, he really didn't hang out with them, he just worked with them from time to time.

Looking at the group of young superheroes Ranma wondered if maybe he needed to hang out with other people. Unfortunately the others wouldn't leave him alone as they were curious as to what he was actually up to.

"Godzilla kicks King Kong's ass any day of the week," Johnny "Human Torch" Storm declared. "No way some overgrown monkey takes on a radiated mutant dinosaur."

"No way," Bobby "Iceman" Drake countered, "Kong's so much smarter than Godzilla."

Kitty "Shadowcat" Pride shook her head. Watching the boys argue about giant monsters was, well, kind of pathetic. She understood why Bobby was picking the evolved creature of the unnaturally mutated creature though – just a bit of mutant bias, but not much.

Shaking her head she tried to withdraw herself from the conversation. Glancing at the handful of girls around the table it was clear though that none of them really felt like talking to each other. First of all, three of them had or were currently dating Peter Parker, which just made things odd. It didn't help that those three girls still had lingering feelings for the runty boy. Add to that the fact that each of them also had lingering and unresolved relationships with some of the other boys around the table. Yes, things were really messed up.

It didn't help that all of them were essentially living together or that they all had issues with the newest member of their group – Ranma Saotome. Yes, having the gender cursed boy sitting with them was, well, unsettling. Not only had he turned into a girl and flashed several of the boys, he'd used that distraction to kick their asses as well.

Looking at how Bobby Drake was stealing glances at the pigtailed Japanese boy Kitty couldn't help but wonder if perhaps the usually cool boy was secretly envisioning the busty redheaded girl that was the cursed body that Ranma turned into.

Only Liz didn't have any relationship issues with any of the boys, though she did have issues with nearly dying during the Ultimatum Wave that had decimated New York and much of the world. Having lost most of her memories she was slowly coming to terms with surviving and the fact that Ranma had nearly killed her and had killed all of her friends.

"It's weird," Ranma whispered as he sat beside the brunette. "Why do you guys hang out with me? Hell, why do you hang out together at all?"

The young mutant glanced at him.

"You know you're thinking about it too," he added as he glanced at the now heated debate between the fire and ice manipulating boys. "You add in the fact that Mary Jane thought I had a thing for her, and that I nearly killed Liz," he whispered discretely, "and this makes the group very, well, odd."

Kitty couldn't disagree with that assessment. "The fact remains that no one can trust you out of their line of sight," the former X-Men stated.

"Back in Nerima," he replied as lifted his cup of water to his lips and took a measured drink. It wasn't lost on him that Bobby, Johnny, Peter, and Mary Jane each looked at him. "Back in Nerima my rivals used to always come up with strange and random schemes to get rid of me. Never bothered me - but then again, that's probably because I'm the best."

"There's a saying," Johnny interjected, "'Keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer'."

Ranma glanced around the table. "So, am I a friend to you guys but an enemy to Kitty and Liz? Is Gwen your enemy since she's the one closest to you?" he asked as he indicated the clingy couple.

The air around the table suddenly grew thick with tension as the gathered young superheroes glared at the martial artist.

Only the chiming of the newly installed PA system as it alerted all the students in the cafeteria that lunch was now officially over kept things from getting too out of hand.

Standing up, Ranma ignored the looks that the young superheroes gave him as they each gathered their things and prepared to head back to their respective classes.

The rest of the day flew by for Ranma, but then again, classes and school in general always breezed by for the martial artist. It wasn't hard for him to elude the others once classes began, and slipping past them once school was out was even easier. It also helped that the police were apparently there to arrest Kitty for something. Thinking nothing of it (as Fury would surely be able to bail out the young former X-Man if need be) the pigtailed martial artist simply did his own thing, heading towards Little Tokyo.

With school once again back in session, though only for two days thus far, Ranma knew that Miya needed something to do. Though he knew that he was the best person to train the young superhuman, the pigtailed martial artist knew that he couldn't do it without attracting some unwanted attention. It wasn't about training the meta-human to use her powers, but to use her body. Powers were nice and all, but without the proper training they were useless. Convincing Miya to endure training with the Shang Chi and Danny "Ironfist" Rand was good in that not only did she now have something to keep her off the streets during the day when most teenagers were supposed to be in school, it also gave her the basic discipline Ranma felt that she needed to be a bigger threat in fight.

But it wasn't Miya that was on his mind as he wandered through the desolate parts of the still rebuilding New York. No, what was bothering the normally carefree martial artist was the nagging feeling of being watched. Finding an abandoned lot (which wasn't hard considering the condition that many neighborhoods were left in) Ranma waited for his pursuers to appear.

It didn't take long, though to Ranma it was too soon, as the orange skinned girl with a barely there blue bikini and very distinct cat-like features approached him. Scanning the very literal cat girl Ranma kept his eyes on the altered human.

"Like what you see?" the woman asked as she misinterpreted the pigtailed boy's lingering gaze.

"Um," the speechless boy replied.

"I can't believe this punk actually fought the Ultimates and wasn't turned to pulp," a second voice interjected.

Glancing around, Ranma realized that he was surrounded by a group of masked individuals. Aside from the cat-girl there was the unmasked African American with a very powerful build. True, he wasn't as big as the Hulk, but the guy was definitely huge. Another tall and menacing figure stood beside the first, though this one was clearly not of African American descent and he wore a helmet. A fourth member was at least wearing a costume, though Ranma had to admit that it was fairly stupid looking. The fifth and final member though had a head of bright, red-hot fire and a pentagram drawn out on his bare chest.

"Man, there are more capes around?" Ranma grumbled as eyed the team of – what were they exactly? "Who are you guys?"

"We're the Defenders," the caped man stated. "I'm Nighthawk."

"Hellcat," the lone female in the group stated.

"Powerman," the unmasked man said as he eyed Ranma.

"Black Knight," the helmeted man added.

"Son of Satan," the fiery haired man stated.

Ranma blinked.

"I told you he wouldn't know or care about your name," Hellcat snorted at the magician's inability to draw a reaction from the martial artist.

"So who are you guys?" the pigtailed boy asked.

"We're the Defenders you moron!" Powerman cried out.

"He's trying to get under our skin," Nighthawk stated.

The martial artist sighed. "So what do you wannabes want?"

"At least we're making a difference," Nighthawk retorted. "We're not the ones who are going out there and giving food to mutants just because we feel guilty about killing some of their buddies."

"Yeah, but you're also the ones who are trying to make a name for yourselves just for the sake of making a name for yourselves," Ranma replied. "Do you really think that being 'heroes' will be your ticket to fame? Why not get a reality TV show deal instead?"

Clearly Nighthawk was the apparent leader of this ragtag group of misfit superheroes.

"I guess you guys couldn't get a deal then," Ranma quipped. "So now you're going to come after me why?"

"You fought the Ultimates," Hellcat stated.

"And the remains of the X-Men," Powerman added.

"But you're not part of Shield," Black Knight finished.

"So you losers think you can take me?" Ranma asked.

"We know we can," Powerman declared as he rushed in.

"Man," Ranma replied as he easily ducked under the taller man's slow punch, "you're kinda slow, both figuratively and literally – you should be called Slow Man."

Hellcat was next, scampering in before raking at the elusive martial artist with her claws. Despite her cat-like reflexes and speed, the cat-girl couldn't get the drop on Ranma as he leapt over her.

A swift kick to the face greeted Nighthawk as the caped crime fighter attempted to swoop down on the pigtailed martial artist.

"I got him," the helmeted hero declared as he brandished an axe, hoping to cleave Ranma in two.

Unfortunately few things went the way that anyone planned when Ranma was involved as the nimble boy deftly avoided the mighty blow despite being airborne by reaching out and slapping down on the flat face of the axe, stealing the force behind the blow to allow him to stay airborne and avoid the blow while also throwing the muscled man off balance. Flipping in the air he landed squarely on the helmeted head of the Black Knight, forcibly shoving the helmet further onto the man's head even as he kicked off of him.

"So, like, weren't the knights from Europe?" Ranma asked as he landed gracefully. "I mean, seriously – knights? They're like Samurai light – half as cool and not even half as good."

The helmeted man roared, which only added to his plight as he was clearly stuck in his helmet.

"And you," he turned to avoid Hellcat's claws, "why a c-cat?"

Avoiding another swipe he countered with a low sweeping kick that forced her to leap into the air. "Yeah, they've got great reflexes and usually land on their feet, but seriously, a cat?"

"I thought you Japanese loved cat-girls!" the redhead teased as she swiped at Ranma with the claws on her feet.

Avoiding the noticeable nails/claws, Ranma grabbed hold of her ankle before swinging her around and throwing her into Powerman.

"So, Slow-man," the pigtailed boy teased, "what kinda lame-ass powers do you have?"

"The name's 'Powerman'!" the unmasked man exclaimed Hellcat nimbly sprawled in the air so as to avoid colliding with the big, muscular man. Showing agility that was nearly as impressive as what Ranma was capable of, Hellcat landed on the big man's chest before leaping off harmlessly. "I'm super strong and got skin as tough as steel."

"What good is all that if you're too slow to hit anything?" the pigtailed boy asked as he dodged another lunge by Hellcat. Grabbing her outstretched wrists he rolled onto his back, kicking her hard in the stomach before launching her high into the air. Effortlessly he sprang to his feet, "Don't worry, they always land on their feet."

"You bastard!" Black Knight shouted as he rushed in with his axe and a sword. Clearly he'd gotten over having his head jammed too far onto his helmet.

"I'm fairly certain my parents were legally married when they had me," Ranma stated as he ducked under the double diagonal slash. Slipping behind his opponent he grabbed hold of the medieval belt and pulled hard.

"Urk!" the knight exclaimed; releasing his weapons which were now embedded in the ground.

"See," Ranma said as he casually threw the man onto the ground, "knights suck because, well, they just swing their weapons around. Samurai rock because they control their weapons and don't get caught off balance. Sure, you can muscle through things, but your technique sucks, and your weapon…" he picked up the axe "they just suck."

Throwing the axe at Nighthawk, Ranma knew that the airborne flier would easily avoid the projectile, but it would by Ranma more time to deal with Powerman.

"Why aren't you doing anything?" Nighthawk shouted as he dodged the axe.

The flame headed man simply scowled. "There's an aura of chaotic magic around him," the magic user stated. "There's already enough ambient magical energy around but throw a real sorcerer into the mix and I'm not sure what's going to happen."

Ranma smirked. Never one to be afraid of the consequences, the pigtailed boy considered his options. Flipping over a powerful yet slow punch from Powerman, he grabbed hold of the big man's shoulders before using his momentum to throw the man into the air and send him crashing into the recovering Black Knight.

Something didn't feel right, but he wasn't sure what. Things just didn't add up.

"I think we're done here," the pigtailed boy stated as he walked away from the Defenders. With Nighthawk carrying a rattled Hellcat, and the Son of Satan simply levitating and not engaging in the fighting, Ranma knew that he'd proven his point.

* * * * *

Hela was not happy. Though she had a man worthy of providing her with an heir, she knew that she could not get what she wanted from him. After over six moons the man had not broken or given in. Though he had another twenty moons until he could be released the goddess knew that Thor would not cave into her demands or needs. Still, dangling the prospect of a quicker return to his loved ones had been incentive enough to get him thinking about what she wanted. But how to get exactly what she wanted?

Glancing down at the still watery surface of the scrying pool Hela scowled. The sight of the valiant Captain America and Valkryie stirred mixed emotions in her. If not for the two of them she wouldn't have acquired the thunder god's soul, if even for a mere fraction of eternity. Ultimately she would have him, but while she had him now she had other options that weren't available with any of the dead warriors that she possessed.

With the magical water showing her exactly what Thor saw Hela knew that she had given him the right tool to not only help him find a suitable replacement for himself but it also provided him with incentive to complete his task sooner. Simply seeing his lovely young wife with his most trusted ally helped motivate him, but to what end?

There was no way that the good Captain would ever allow himself to service Hela. So why was he watching them? Was he afraid that they might try to move on together without him? True, Thor did respect the mortal, but Valkryie was in love with Thor, not the Captain. Still, was the thunder god jealous?

Hela smirked. _'But how to use this against him?'_

* * * * *

Responsibility – no one word had ever truly terrified the shriveled old grandmaster and founder of the Anything Goes Style of Martial Arts like that word did. As the founder, master, and eventual teacher of that style he had done many reprehensible things to others and to his followers. And never had he claimed the responsibility for any of his actions as he left Soun and Genma to deal with the fall out of his lechery and shady behavior.

Yet now Happosai couldn't do anything without having to consider the implications on not only himself, but the rest of humanity. As the current Sorcerer Supreme he was responsible for protecting the mortal world from the magical realms – be they gods or demonic in nature. Though both the so called gods and so called demons were allowed a degree of influence over the mortal realm, they were not allowed to directly influence things.

Despite the noble intentions that Thor, the Norse God of Thunder, had his very direct interactions with the humans as a member of the Ultimates were making things harder for the world. Had the thunder god not been involved with the Ultimates than Magneto would not have had the tool he needed to create the Ultimatum Wave that nearly destroyed all of humanity and nearly released a horde of demons.

There was also the incident where Loki, Thor's step-brother and the god of trickery and deceit, had nearly destroyed the Ultimates by creating the Liberators. But with Thor currently in Valhalla who would be the Yin to Loki's Yang?

As Sorcerer Supreme, Happosai sighed. As much as he hated to do it, he knew that Ranma was the best candidate for the job. Aw hell, who was he kidding, it'd be fun just watching the gender cursed boy mucking up that trickster's plans. In essence it was like pitting two of his worst enemies against each other with him reaping the benefits of that altercation regardless of how things turned out. With the Jusenkyo curse protecting him from Loki's magic, even that godling would not be able to properly deal with Ranma. And of course the was one thing Happosai knew as the founder and grandmaster of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts it was that you never bet against Ranma.

* * * * *

The warm, humid ocean breeze annoyed the busty brunette. Not only did the humid air weigh her down, but it was much too warm for her personal tastes. It didn't help that she was wearing a long lab coat despite the warm weather. She was just used to the colder weather of the far north, well, further north than New York at least.

It also didn't help that her attempt at creating a team of super-powered beings and a super-powered team appeared to have been shattered. Watching the fight from a distance the busty scientist simply shook her head as the mysterious Ranma threw her rag-tag team around. The team of aspiring super-heroes had been nothing before. Even with the help of one Hank Pym they had been just a group of posers, but with her help, well, they had found real power.

The girl who had once simply dressed as a cat now had the combined abilities of several different species of cats – the power of a tiger, the ferocity of a lion, the speed of a cheetah, and the endurance of a cougar – not to mention the dexterity, flexibility, and reflexes of a cat.

The man once known as Luke Cage who was once what mortals considered an Olympic level athlete now possessed incredible strength and durability. True, he wasn't as strong as the Hulk or Thor, but he was stronger and tougher than Captain America and Spider-man.

The Black Knight was invincible so long as he wore his enchanted helmet. While not as strong or powerful as Powerman he was virtually invulnerable.

Only Nighthawk and Son of Satan had not received any powers from her as the former had adapted some recently discovered alien technology into his costume allowing him some degree of flight as well as improved reflexes and strength while the later had derived powers from his demonic bloodline.

Unfortunately the combined powers of the five aspiring heroes had not been enough to grant them a victory over the mysterious Ranma Saotome.

Why was Son of Satan merely standing off to the side when the sorcerer should have been casting spells at the elusive boy?

Regardless of what the lone sorcerer was or wasn't doing, it was clear to the woman that this group of misfit superheroes was not what she needed. Perhaps it was time for her to look to another option. Still, their little encounter was more than enough to tell her that they needed more time to work on getting used to their powers – time that she couldn't spare. Still, they could be a useful diversion for now.

* * * * *

For the first time in over a week Tony Stark was glad he was no longer an active member of the Ultimates. Though the raven haired genius had enjoyed playing the part of the thrill seeking superhero known as Ironman, the inventive and intelligent young man knew that staying on the Ultimates no longer fit him or what he wanted. Sure, his brother had convinced his best friend to take up the mantle of War Machine and take Ironman's spot on the team, but as future face of Stark Industries, Tony knew that he needed to distance himself from his alter-ego. Though he maintained strong ties to the remaining superheroes and Shield, Tony knew that he didn't have all the same responsibilities as someone who was on the active roster of the Ultimates.

One of benefits of not being on the team was the fact that he didn't have to worry about interpersonal relationships and dynamics of the new team. As a reserve member he could enjoy his current relationship with one of the newest Ultimates without it affecting either him or her role on the team or having the team suffer as a result of their personal affair.

Laying back in his plush king-sized bed Tony sighed. "You truly are deserve your name 'Ms. Marvel'," he teased.

"And you," the buxom blond sighed as she lay beside her lover, "deserve your name as well 'Ironman'."

The sudden flash of red lighting filled the room, alerting the pair of out of costume heroes.

"We've found the Hulk," Nick Fury's voice cut in over the internal com system. "All active and reserve members of the Ultimates are to report to Hanger Bay 2."

* * * * *

A/N

Yeah, a short chapter, but I figure something's better than nothing.

I must admit, the Defenders are really weak. I'm not sure how they got their powers, but as they each have an Earth-616 counterpart except for Nighthawk, who has counterparts in both Earth-31916 and Earth-712. Seriously, the Defenders were just a group of wannabes who suddenly got powerful. Makes you wonder about them…

Expect more from them in the future though. Still – Ranma vs Hulk…. Hmmm... poor Ranma.

Dreamingfox


	15. Chapter 15

Author's Notes –

Time to reply to some reviews.

The poll is just to see what readers think – not what I'm actually going to do. Yes, Ranma/Rogue is done, and ultimately I'm not going in that direction. I do think you'll like where I do go with the ships though.

I don't think the last few chapters were filler, there are some important things going on behind the scenes that are building up to something bigger altogether.

Don't expect Fury to send Ranma back to the past to change the present. Remember, Fury was exiled to the Supreme-verse for his part in the Ultimate Power fiasco – him sending Ranma back to prevent the Ultimatum would still leave Fury in the Supreme-verse. Plus things were set into motion way before Fury was dethroned from Shield.

A deep, calming breath was the only thing that the pigtailed boy needed as he listened to Colonel Fury going over the details of how they were going to take down the Hulk. It wasn't long really. Most of the gathered heroes had already fought the Hulk before, now it was more about testing the new team and having the reserves ready to go in case the starters needed help.

Glancing at the assembled heroes Ranma wondered if the new Ultimates could take on the Hulk. Ms. Marvel, U.S. Agent, War Machine, Nerd Hulk, Wasp, Hawkeye, and the new Black Widow were impressive, but were they better than the original line up of Captain America, Thor, Ironman, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Wasp, and Giant-man?

Well, they did have Ranma on the side. Though from what he heard he wasn't to actually engage the Hulk seeing as he really didn't have any powers. He was just there to observe the new Ultimates and to assess how they could improve their techniques to fight better as a team and as individuals on a team.

Still, he couldn't help but feel a bit – nervous, anxious, apprehensive, proud? – about fighting the incredible incarnation of rage and anger.

"Okay people," Fury shouted as the large doors to the special quin-jet opened, "stick to the plan."

Exiting the jet the superheroes separated as the new Ultimates moved to confront the Incredible Hulk and the others (plus Ranma) moved into supportive positions.

Glancing at Captain America, Ranma shrugged, "You think this'll work?"

Fixing his eyes on the horizon, Cap gave a slight shake of his head, "No."

"Yeah, didn't think so," Ranma stated.

It didn't take them long to get into their respective positions as the two groups closed in on the isolated cabin.

From where the support team was Ranma had a clean line of sight on the cabin as the current roster of the Ultimates circled the cabin. It came as no surprise that the cabin quickly vanished as War Machine vaporized it in hopes of capturing Bruce Banner before he could turn into the Hulk. Of course, that didn't work at all.

Having been ordered to let She-Hulk, Nerd Hulk, Ms. Marvel and US Agent to try their hand at the Hulk first before she intervened, Zarda simply stood to the side as a clearly enraged grey-green Hulk charged at his clone – slamming the smarter emerald green Hulk with a powerful uppercut that sent Robert flying straight into the air.

Things went even worse when She-Hulk kicked US Agent in the ribs, sending her crashing into Ms. Marvel.

"Either she wants him to herself," Ranma started.

"Or she wants to help him," Ironman finished.

The two Hulks collided, rattling even the distant cliff that the secondary team was standing on.

"It could be worse," the pigtailed martial artist stated, "we could have brought Titania and that Weapon X2 girl."

They watched as the two Hulks collided, trading thundering punches until finally Ms. Marvel and US Agent finally rejoined the fray, only to have the Hulk grab Ms. Marvel and stomp her into the ground while She-Hulk threw US Agent into the air, forcing War Machine to fly off after her. With the interlopers dealt with the two Hulks once again raged against each other.

"That's not good," Ironman stated as he watched his friend catch US Agent.

The fact that the pair of heroes collided with a still airborne Nerd Hulk as he descended was bad, very bad, as the trio came crashing down. At least US Agent managed to slow her decent by grabbing onto tree branches and the other two were at least able endure the collision with the ground. Unfortunately things took an even worse turn as the Nerd Hulk regained his feet. Roaring his rage, he picked up War Machine and threw the dazed hero into a tree. A boulder soon followed.

"I think this we should step in," Captain America stated as he ran towards the ledge.

Ironman gave chase, catching the iconic hero several meters after the man had leapt off the cliff.

Ranma pursued them, carelessly yet carefully bounding off the various tree branches as he made his way towards the fighting.

They'd come here to capture one rogue Hulk, but instead appeared to have to deal with three.

Though he was loathed to admit it, Ranma had felt a bit apprehensive about fighting the Hulk. Though he was a world class martial artist (and possibly the best pure martial artist in the world), he was just that – a martial artist. Yes, he was strong enough to toe to toe with Spider-man and Captain America, but against Ironman and Thor or the Incredible Hulk, well, he was sorely lacking in the pure strength department. Hell, even Ryoga wouldn't have been able to go up against the Hulk, though maybe Taro could… but that was Taro.

Still, it was the Hulk, and he did love to fight and prove his worth as a martial artist. Yes, the Hulk would prove to be the ultimate challenge as to what a true world class martial artist was capable of.

"You distract the real Hulk," Captain America pointed to the original grey-green skinned Hulk. "We'll move to assist in recovering the others then regroup."

"You can avoid getting hit, right?" Ironman asked.

Ranma smirked, "Leave him to me."

Going over his options he instantly fell back into his usual routines, "Hey ugly!"

Had Captain America not seen stupider things, or had years of training, he probably would have missed a step.

"Hulk not UGLY!" the Hulk declared as he lifted a giant boulder and promptly threw it at Ranma.

With casual grace Ranma leapt over the giant obstacle, effortlessly stepping on it as he propelled himself up at the incarnation of rage. "Well, it's not like you're not made of muscles that most body builders would die for," he stated as he landed just outside of the Hulk's reach, "but the skin… you seriously need to stop going to that spray tanning place – they make you look like you just got out of a tar pit."

Yes, he definitely had the Hulk's attention. But he also had half of the mountainside being uprooted from under his feet as the beast grabbed a handful of rock and soil in each massive hand. Taking the opportunity to leap over and behind the Hulk, Ranma whistled, catching his opponent's attention. Again he sprang into the air as the Hulk smashed the portion of ground that he'd just ripped up onto the exact spot that Ranma had been standing on.

"So, what's got you so worked up?" Ranma asked, seeing the obvious flaw in his previous attempts to distract the Hulk.

"Hulk want to be left alone!"

Ducking under a punch Ranma decided against trying to hit the titanic creature. While durable, he clearly lacked the endurance to tussle with someone even more durable than Ryoga. Instead, he did what most juvenile teenagers did when they wanted to taunt their opponents – he reached out and grabbed the Hulk's blackish nipple and quickly twisted as he slipped under the towering creature's powerful punch.

The ear-shattering roar rocked the very foundations of the mountain. The sheer force of the air leaving the Hulk's lungs was enough to send Ranma flying.

"Hulk no like bully!"

Yes, clearly the Hulk's alter-ego, one Robert Bruce Banner, had been the object of years of bullying by the jocks of his school. Years of repressed anger quickly consumed the scientist's gamma infused body and mind. His now green, glowing eyes locked onto Ranma.

"Five bucks says we don't find enough of him to put into a zip lock bag," War Machine offered as he pulled himself out from under the rubble.

"Hulk say Bully leave Hulk alone!" the green-grey skinned monster demanded as he lifted his large fists into the air before suddenly slamming them into the ground (where Ranma had been just a fraction of a second ago). The actual earth trembled, knocking even the Hulk off his feet as the ground beneath him gave way. Fortunately Ranma was in the air at the time, though the sound of the impact was enough to throw even him slightly off balance as he landed several meters just outside of the Hulk's reach.

Taking advantage of the situation, Ranma rushed in again. Yes, he might not be able to take a hit from the Hulk, but being close to the monster would at least limit the damage done to the mountain range – hopefully.

"Okay," he said as the Hulk once again wound up to throw another mountain sundering punch, "I admit, you're not ugly."

The Hulk simply wiffed with his punch, slightly startled by his opponent's daring as well as by his admission that he was wrong.

"Bully leave Hulk _ALONE!_"

"Sorry," Ranma shrugged as he ducked under another punch, "I can't do that."

Being the martial arts master that he was, Ranma could easily read the Hulk's moves. True, he'd never faced someone with the sheer power that the Hulk had, but it was pretty easy to tell just what the Hulk was going to do. Ripping the ground out from underneath him had been slightly unexpected, but something he'd easily avoided. The punches, well, they were very standard. And the kicks, well, they were non-existent.

As a martial artist the fight was boring and even predictable, yet Ranma knew that he couldn't end the fight by trading blows with the Hulk. Hell, he doubted that his greatest and most powerful techniques would do little more than anger the Hulk. Rather than wasting his ki reserves, Ranma opted to simply dodge the incredibly powerful punches.

For all of the Hulk's absurd strength, the guy couldn't fight worth a lick. True, if they were trading punches yes, the Hulk would win. But from a technical standpoint that Ranma was viewing the fight that power was relatively useless. With his unbelievably tough skin and muscles he was close to unstoppable.

Jumping over another punch, Ranma skillfully landed on the Hulk's head. Kicking off he flipped into the air as he avoided an attempt to swat him away.

"Hulk no like bully! Bully leave Hulk alone!"

Clapping his massive hands together, the Hulk sent Ranma flying as the titanic impact sent the air (and anything airborne) away. It also happened to rattle Ranma's ear drums, throwing him just off balance as he attempted to land.

Disoriented Ranma barely avoided a powerful overhead right as he fell onto his backside. Instinctively he rolled onto his back, then sprang under the Hulk's massive legs, capturing the beast's back. Kicking the back of the Hulk's left knee, he sent the Hulk tumbling. The purely defensive attack at the Hulk's joint was just enough to give Ranma the time he needed to recover his balance.

"Puny bully no make fun of Hulk! Hulk smash!"

Ranma ducked as the Hulk renewed his assault of mountain leveling punches.

As the pair fought their way down the mountain side Ranma was suddenly struck with inspiration.

"I think it's time you take a bath!" Ranma declared as he caught the massive wrist of his opponent. Using the Hulk's own strength against himself, the martial artist twisted his hips and turned, flipping the surprised Hulk into the air.

"Hulk no want bath!"

Kicking off of the Hulk's wrist, Ranma slammed his feet into the Hulk's stomach, forcing him to expel a large amount of air. The young martial artist forced ki into his fingers before stabbing them into the Hulk's throat and neck. Kicking the Hulk hard in the face, he didn't give the monster a chance to recover as he flipped around and kicked the Hulk hard in the groin. Even the Hulk had to feel that one.

Cold water kept him from continuing his assault on the Hulk as he suddenly transformed. Hopefully he'd managed to force out enough air of the Hulk's lungs.

As the Norse God of Thunder, Thor had seen much in his relatively long life. He'd fought incredibly powerful trolls and frost giants, immortal monsters that his brother had conjured, and fearsome dragons. Yet watching as this whelp fearlessly fought the Hulk even as the other Ultimates sought to contain and restrain the fake Hulk and the She-Hulk, the blond godling couldn't be more impressed. Having fought the Hulk several times himself Thor knew first hand just how powerful the incarnation of rage was.

But this whelp of a man was clearly more than he appeared. For him to go toe to toe with the Hulk and win, something that even the mighty Thor had not been able to do, that was a feat that was truly remarkable.

True, Hela might object that he turned into a woman, but perhaps that could be used as leverage to convince him to sir her heir. But how to convince Hela?

Captain America couldn't help but wonder about Ranma Saotome. True, he was a great fighter, the best hand to hand fighter that the super soldier had ever seen. But he was still immature with reckless and rash tendencies that made him a liability in battle. He'd fought the remainder of the Ultimates and the X-men and really should have beaten them all but he'd held back.

A seasoned fighter would have ended the fight quickly. A seasoned fighter would have put his opponents down quickly, killed them as he deemed necessary. But Ranma preferred to leave his opponents alive.

That selfless idealism and was useless on the battle field, but Captain America couldn't help but hope that Ranma never lost that innocence.

"Impressive," Fury stated as he watched the now redheaded girl pull an unconscious Robert Bruce Banner out of the cold water, "you defeated the Hulk by yourself."

"And all of you had to subdue just two," Ranma retorted.

Zarda smirked. This boy was good. Of all the Ultimates she was the only who had managed to defeat the Incredible Hulk by herself. But for this boy who was completely normal (aside from being deathly afraid of cats) and was completely human to have defeated the incarnation of rage was truly a feat worthy of her attention. What did it matter that he sometimes turned into a girl?

For his part Ranma ignored the appraising looks that the other Ultimates gave him. He'd already taken their measure, and they clearly had yet to see the true depth of his ability and skill. Besides, dragging the wet and unconscious man was taking much more out of him than he expected. It didn't help that the Hulk had managed to land some nasty shots on him while they were underwater, though the water did help to slow the blows as well as defuse the impact. Still, Ranma felt like he'd gone several rounds with Ryoga, Herb, Lime, Saffron, Taro and Rogue –the other Rogue. It was just as he'd expected – none of the others came even close to being as tough or powerful as the Hulk.

Yet he'd prevailed – proving to himself that he was the best and that no short cuts could overcome years of dedication, insane training, and sacrifice to achieve the level of skill that he had acquired. Yes, martial arts kicked ass and martial artists kicked a lot of ass, well, Ranma Saotome did at least.

Loki was not happy. He'd hoped that the Hulk would provide him with an opening to steal Mjolnir. Even three Hulks were not enough to provide him with that opportunity as he'd warped the other, weaker Hulks so that they attacked their teammates.

Yes, the Ultimates would have been able to handle one, maybe two, but against three… No, it was not that he'd underestimated the Ultimates as they had barely been able to defeat the two weakest Hulks, it was the wild card that he had not expected. That gender cursed boy had single handedly defeated the Hulk – something that none of the Ultimates alone could do.

Yes, the boy had managed to defeat the Defenders, but they were second rate fools compared to the Ultimates, even with the powers that he'd enhanced. No, what he needed was a team of truly ruthless villains to test this boy, but he'd have to do something about the Ultimates to keep them from interfering, but what? The Hulks were defeated for now, the Red Skull was gone along with Richard's Cosmic Cube, Zarda had defeated the Wrecking crew by herself, and the Brotherhood was in hiding, leaving the trickster with no viable options.

Looking down at the now redheaded girl, Loki clenched his fists. _'Jusenkyo!'_ The cursed woman had once been the sorceress supreme as well as being his daughter. Yes, his daughter had been clever, too clever for her own good really, and it didn't help that she loved to thwart his plans just because he was the most cunning of the gods. Though she'd been dead for over a millennia the fool of a girl was still managing to interfere with his plans.

But how to use his late daughter's chosen champion against the Ultimates? The boy had already fought them and lost, and was now assisting them. And he couldn't use his powers to alter reality on the boy, but what of those around him?

Having already made the man that his half-brother respected fall in love with Valkryie had not been enough as the man's rigorous code of honor could not be compromised Loki knew that there was only so much he could to with love even though he had essentially created Valkryie (and the Defenders). Still, if he could make Thor and Captain America love Valkryie, he could make the others fall in love with Ranma.

Smiling mischievously, the cunning godling looked down at the busty girl. Yes, he would have fun with Jusenkyo's creation and destroy the Ultimates at the same time.

"Ow," Ranma exclaimed as the medic popped his shoulder into place.

"A dislocated shoulder, hyper extended elbow, seven bruised ribs, a sprained neck, bruised thigh and several abrasions," Fury said skeptically as he listed Ranma's injuries. "For a completely 'normal' human you managed to take down the Hulk and came out of it with the least amount of injuries."

With both of his shoulders now in their proper place, Ranma shrugged. "I'm the best for a reason."

"You probably couldn't do it again," Captain America smirked.

Ranma shrugged, "You never know."

"My money's on the Hulk for round two," Ironman chimed in.

Ranma smirked, "Yeah, you would have the money to blow on that bet."

Sitting inside the vibranium laced cell Bruce Banner watched a replay of his alter-ego's fight with the young martial artist.

"You're sure he has no super-powers?" Bruce asked.

"None," the former acting director of Shield smirked. Even though she was wearing her mask, Carol couldn't help but scowl. Even with her new powers the mysterious martial artist had shown the Ultimates and their new members up.

As the former head of Shield Carol Danvers couldn't help but think that there was more to Ranma Saotome than he admitted to. True, he did have a gender/sex changing curse and thus magic affecting him, but it didn't empower him. Yes, he was a master martial artist on a level that, well, no one outside of Japan and China had seen in generations. Still, was that enough to defeat the Hulk?

'_Maybe I have been ignoring the training I received in Tibet.'_

"You're sure that this is going to be okay?" Ranma asked as he looked down at the pit that was Robert Bruce Banner's cell.

Captain America nodded, "This door is too small for the Hulk to get out of and too high up for Banner to get to."

The raven haired boy nodded as the portal opened. Leaping through the one meter wide hole Ranma twisted and then re-oriented himself so that he landed gracefully on the floor beside a startled Banner.

"Yo," he exclaimed as the brilliant scientist blinked at him. "Name's Ranma Saotome."

"You're the boy that defeated me," the scrawny scientist exclaimed.

Ranma nodded.

"Why are you here?"

"To help you control your rage."

Banner opened his mouth, then promptly shut it as his brilliant mind failed to find the right words. Though he knew it was possible, it had been such a long time since he's been able to control the Hulk. Still, it was possible.

"Why would Shield need the Hulk?" he dared to ask. "They've got two others already."

Ranma nodded, "Yeah, but they suck."

Banner blinked. The boy's bluntness really was refreshing though.

"Nerd boy is, well, a nerd," Ranma stated. "I beat him by flashing him my breasts."

Again Banner blinked. That just didn't sound right.

"I've got a magical curse that turns me into a busty girl," the very masculine boy explained. "I was in my cursed form when I flashed him, and then he kinda froze, allowing me to kick him around. What is it with geeks and breasts that makes them freeze up anyways?"

The scientist simply shook his head, "It's hard to explain."

"I guess being a girl half the time makes me take for granted all the times I've seen girls or guys naked," Ranma shrugged.

"So, you like...?"

"Girls, I like girls."

Bruce nodded. "So what about the She-Hulk?"

The martial artist shrugged, "She's good, and nearly as tough and strong as you, but she's a bit rash and emotional – look at how she rushed in to become a Hulk like you just so that she could try and be closer to you by experiencing some of the things you've endured. That's just crazy."

Again the scientist opened his mouth but found that he really didn't have any words that could dispute what the boy had said.

"I'd be like my late fiancée jumping into a pool of drowned man or boy just to experience what it's like to be cursed and change into the other gender/sex," Ranma added. "Though she might have liked being a guy… I'm pretty sure he old man wouldn't have minded having a son and two daughters instead of three daughters though. Then he might have actually taught her their style of martial arts."

"So you think Betty was rash about turning herself into the She-Hulk?"

"Yeah," the boy nodded. "But it might not have been the wrong thing. I know that sometimes, regardless of how smart you are or good with words you are, you just need to throw down with someone to clear the air with them. Even if you're disappointed with the result of the fight, it clears things up between the fighters.

"And having taken some of your shots, I know that Betty couldn't have thrown down with you so she had to turn into the She-Hulk so that she could survive. Sometimes people do stupid things for good reasons."

Bruce fought the urge to smirk. "Yeah."

"Anyways, I'm here to help you with your anger issues," Ranma stated. "But it looks like you've already had some training.

"The only way for you go get out is through that portal. You're going to have to learn to transform into the Hulk, leap at the portal, then turn back and go through that portal. That or someone's going to have to magic you out of here."

A/N

I think I'll just leave things where they're at for now.

Please Read and Review.

Dreamingfox


End file.
